Turning Tides
by Shadowed-Shikyo
Summary: He's a pirate and an ass. A very cute ass. Er, not to say that his ass WAS cute, which it was. She's never going to tell him that. LawxOC He's a sadistic psychopath but he's her ticket off Sabaody. So she took it. KidxOC [As of 6/28/13 chapters 1-18 have been edited and revamped.]
1. The Slave Trade

**Out of frustration with little fics featuring the Supernovas I came up with this little idea. Not to mention since One Piece is my favorite I was always depressed I could never come up with a good OP fanfic.**

**I don't own One Piece, that little gem belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**

**Enjoy!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-**x-

It was both their faults—she supposed—that slavers had managed to capture them. Normally they would keep their guard up when going about Sabaody Archipelago, especially in the lawless areas but this time…

Luca sighed and closed her eyes, slowly breathing in and out, and then opened them, hoping that she was home and not here but the chains around her wrists and ankles and the collar around her neck brought her to the painful reality: she was a slave now. Property, waiting to be bought.

She sought out Cayenne who was sitting on another bench. Cayenne was sitting there, her eyes closed. As if she sensed Luca she opened her eyes and Luca's brown eyes met with Cayenne's teal ones. Cayenne gave her a soft smile. _T__here's hope,_ she thought. Cayenne knew how to pick locks, she could find the keys to their collars and escape.

But chances of Cayenne and her being sold to the same person were highly unlikely and they would have to be responsible for themselves and hope that the other would get away.

_How could we be so stupid?_ Luca thought angrily. The both of them trained themselves to be damn good fighters so this would never happen to them. While Luca had moved here when she was twelve, Cayenne had lived in the archipelago all her life. Cayenne knew the dangers and she was quick to tell Luca when they became friends. Since then, they made necessary precautions to prevent situations like _this_.

It had all started when Luca was on her lunch break from her job as a bartender, Cayenne had come by in order to keep Luca company. Luca was eating her lunch while they were walking and Cayenne was talking about something, she couldn't remember. They were distracted and before they knew it, they were surrounded by at least twenty slavers.

On a normal day, Luca and Cayenne would have no problem dispatching slavers but these slavers had dirty tricks up their sleeves, which included attacking from behind and swarming, _lots_ of swarming. And it didn't take long for them to disarm Cayenne and Luca and knock them out.

Cayenne closed her eyes and looked away. She was the older of the two at twenty years old while Luca turned nineteen a few months ago, and the calmer one as well. Soft-spoken and patient beyond belief, except for the rare time when she lost her temper (Luca still thought it was one of the most terrifying experiences in her entire life). Cayenne was the voice of reason for Luca, the one who would be ready and raring to get into a fight with whoever picked one with her.

It was Cayenne who had suggested she take up bar-tending so she could kick out the undesirable drunks as a way to let off steam and not lose her job. Since then, Luca always had a sneaking suspicion that Cayenne was a schemer. She could see many things that others could not and planned accordingly to them.

Luca looked around at her fellow prisoners, many of them were humans. Bur there was a giant as well and her heart sank when she saw the poor mermaid. She looked terrified out of her wits and her eyes were puffy from crying. The mermaid looked up at Luca, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes, Luca gave her a comforting smile. _"It'll be alright."_ She mouthed.

The young girl brightened a bit but then returned to her own little world, the little world that everyone else was in. _Can't be long now,_ Luca's stomach tightened at the thought of going out on that stage and watching people bid on her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the proprietor swept through the rows of slaves, "Places everyone, show's on in five!" He shouted jovially as he exited the cage where most of them where being held.

_Show?_ Luca felt anger rip through her. These were people's lives they were talking about! And they just made them sound like items that could be thrown away whenever they saw fit! _Calm down._ She told herself.

No need to make the men mad again. She had bitten one of the examiners when he shoved his disgusting fingers into her mouth. Needless to say, she had a nice bruise on her back that was hidden by her shirt. After all, the 'merchandise' should be kept in good condition as to insure higher bids and profits.

"Let's go!" The Proprietor beamed and walked out onto the stage. "We apologize for keeping you all waiting, ladies and gentlemen! We will now begin the Grove 1 human auction! With your host… Mister Disco!"

Luca tuned him out as they brought out the first person. But her stomach churned when she heard the bidding start. _I think I'm going to be sick._

One by one, she watched them bring out people and bring them back in, placing them in the corral where their new 'owners' would claim them. "Bring out number twenty!" Someone hissed.

-x-

Cayenne found herself being hauled to her feet and led out towards the stage. She kept her face neutral, even though her stomach was doing somersaults and her head was pounding from where one of the slavers hit her in order to ensure she didn't struggle. "And now, item number twenty!" Disco practically sang as she was brought out.

-x-

Eustass "Captain" Kid couldn't be any more bored. While he found himself almost disgusted with the human auction, he was more disgusted that this was backed by the apparent 'Enforcers of Justice,' the World Government. They let people like the World Nobles walk around and do whatever they please. And when comparing the pirates with those scum, pirates _did_ look like saints.

"And now, item number twenty!" The auctioneer was saying, "a young female and twenty years old. Here's Cayenne! The starting bid is five-hundred thousand beli!"

A young woman stood in the center of the stage. She had long dark hair and piercing teal eyes. She was dressed simply, in pants and a shirt that cut off at her midriff revealing part of a tattoo (it looked to be a tribal one but from this far away he couldn't tell). The thing that caught his interest though, was that she had a calm expression on her face as if she was completely fine with being sold.

As if anyone could be fine with being sold as a slave. Kid knew that she was putting on a brave face but inside she was scared. He could tell by the way she kept stroking her leg with her thumb. She was trying to keep herself calm. His interest peaked. Was this the interesting person he had talked about, perhaps?

"Five-hundred, ninety thousand!" Someone called out.

"I hear five-hundred, ninety thousand beli!" Disco cried. "Any more?"

"Seven-hundred, fifty thousand!" Another cried.

Kid smirked when he saw the girl known as Cayenne flinch slightly. Now that he had another chance to look at her, she was a looker. Oh, why the hell not. "Eight-hundred, forty thousand," Kid called out lazily

-x-

Instantly, murmurs in the crowd and even in his crew rose up. "Captain Kid?" Killer asked him in confusion. Even though he _did_ mention buying someone if anyone interesting showed up. But still, he had no use for a slave.

Maybe he wanted her for his own personal uses… Killer studied his captain, trying to see what his intent was, it was always a possibility but it was always much better to just find someone like that when they find land; it wouldn't bring any good if he brought a woman for purposes like that onto the ship.

-x-

People began to fidget nervously; there was no way they could bid against the number one supernova! Kidd smirked. The girl was as good as his.

"Anyone else?" Disco attempted to goad others into bidding, hoping to get Cayenne's price higher.

-x-

Cayenne looked up at the man who was most likely going to be her master. He was tall and she could make out his flame red hair and the big fuzzy coat. She vaguely remembered his wanted poster, three-hundred and fifteen million beli. The most wanted supernova. His reputation was that of a ruthless pirate who cut down anyone in his way, including civilians.

"Sold!" Disco gave in. "To Captain Kid for eight-hundred, forty thousand!"

Cayenne's stomach dropped, she had thought that she would be bought by some random noble where she could just pick the locks to her chains, steal the key to her collar, and escape. But now…

_There's no way I could escape a pirate like _him_._ She thought as the men led her away to the corral, where Kid or one of his men would claim her.

They led her past Luca, her best friend, who looked up. They locked eyes for a moment before Cayenne was swept away. That would probably be the last time she would ever see her again.

-x-

Luca had to keep herself from hyperventilating. When Cayenne went past her after she was sold, Cayenne's eyes showed something that Luca had rarely seen.

Worry. Cayenne was worried.

_We're fucked._ Luca thought as the next person was brought out. _If _Cayenne _of all people is worried, then I don't want to know what's going to happen._

All of the sudden she was jerked up. "You're next." One of the men sneered and Luca recognized him as the man she bit.

She straightened herself, at least she could go with her dignity and pride still intact. _Whoever buys me, _she said to herself determinedly, _I'm going to give them hell. _As much hell as a slave could give and she could only hope that she wasn't bought by a World Noble. 

"Item number twenty-three!" Disco announced as Luca was led out onto the stage. "Another human female, nineteen years old: Luca! The starting bid is five-hundred thousand!"

_Try to buy me. _Luca growled in her mind. _I dare you._ She hoped that she turned some of these nobles off with her out-there looks. She was known to dye her hair (right now it was dark blue with a vivid purple streak on the side). Sometimes it was multicolored and other times it was one color (her original color was blonde and she hated it).

And she had a nose piercing and several ear piercings and usually while working she would dress in dark tones (forest green shirt, dark blue jeans, and boots). The key to bar-tending was to look tough but not scary enough as to scare away customers.

"Five-hundred, twenty thousand." Someone bid.

_Dammit. _Luca's heart dropped. She couldn't help it, she was scared.

"Five-hundred, twenty thousand, any more?" Disco asked.

_Son of a bitch._

"Six-hundred, forty thousand!" Another person challenged.

"Seven-hundred thousand!"

Luca felt like throwing up.

"Seven-hundred, thirty thousand!"

"I've got seven-hundred, thirty thousand!" Disco called happily. "Any more?"

The heat in Luca's stomach increased, now she was angry. How dare people toy with another person's life like this? She had stayed away from this part of the Archipelago ever since _the incident_, but she had seen her fair share of slaves and now she was a part of something that she hated so much. _I'll get away. I'll do whatever it takes._

"Eight-hundred thousand beli." A cool voice rose above the thoughts in Luca's head.

_Huh?_ Luca scanned the crowd, looking for the one who spoke. She didn't have to try very hard; people were turning their heads to look at him. Luca's heart dropped even further when she recognized him.

All it took was the yellow on his shirt and that hat. Trafalgar Law, the "Surgeon of Death," worth two-hundred million beli and also one of the Supernovas. Their eyes connected and the smile on the man's face seemed to get bigger by a fraction of an inch.

_Now _she understood why Cayenne was worried. She must have been bought by someone like him; someone who neither of them would be able to get away from easily.

People shifted; once again they weren't too keen to bid against a supernova. Disco seemed to recognized this. "Sold! To Captain Law for eight-hundred thousand beli!"

Law's smirk grew a bit again. _Shit,_ was all Luca thought as the men led her off the stage and past a man wearing a pirate's garb and the poor mermaid locked away in a large tank.

-x-

Luca felt relieved when she saw Cayenne still in the corral. "Cayenne!"

"Luca." The two embraced each other as best they could. "Things just got bad." Cayenne informed her. "I was bought by Kid."

Luca nodded. "Law."

"Two supernovas." Cayenne murmured. "Escape almost seems impossible now."

"I know." Luca sighed. "This is fucked up."

Cayenne didn't say anything for a moment. "There's still a chance."

Luca raised an eyebrow and then laughed sarcastically. "I don't think we could take on a pirate crew by ourselves."

"No, I mean that there's a chance that they'll have _us_ join their crew."

"Then we can't leave, that's asking for death if they ever track us down." And they'd be apart. Luca seriously doubted that Trafalgar Law was buddy-buddy with Eustass Kid.

"But at least we'll have our freedom."

"Sounds like a piss poor freedom to me." Luca said savagely. While the life of a pirate was enticing (she despised the World Government for allowing the slave trade to continue and she wanted to do _something_ to show her irritation with them), she never felt like leaving Sabaody Archipelago, it was her home, no matter how fucked up it was.

Cayenne was about to reply when a loud crash interrupted them. People screamed in shock. Luca tried to crane her neck to see what happened but she could only see part of the stage.

"What happened?" Luca asked.

"I don't know."

There were shouts and then a gun shot. Luca's heart clenched, did someone shoot a slave or something? Then, the screaming began. "What the hell?" Luca cried. "Did someone _murder_ someone?"

There was a pounding of feet and then the screaming ceased—it seemed that people fled the building. What happened?

A man ran into the back room, a very _big_ man wearing only a Hawaiian shirt and a speedo. _Gross._ He seemed to be looking for something. "There!" He said enthusiastically as he grabbed a ring of keys, the keys to all of their locks. Was he going to free them?

Instead the man ran out of the room. "And after I just went through the trouble of finding the keys." He complained after a moment. Without looking behind him he tossed the keys to the corral where Cayenne caught them. "Here you go guys, free yourselves!"

A cry of happiness rose up as Cayenne quickly undid her chains and collar. She turned to Luca and helped her as well, large grins on the both of their faces. "Maybe luck does like us!" Luca said happily as Cayenne handed the keys off to another slave.

Cayenne nodded as the slaves moved to head out the back. "Let's go. Once we get out of here, we're going to have lay low for awhile."

Luca was just about to reply when someone interrupted her, "Oh no!" Someone wailed.

"What?" Someone else piped up.

"Marines!"

Marines? Luca and Cayenne fought their way to the front. Sure enough, there were marines surrounding the auction house. What where they doing here? No matter, they where standing between them and freedom. "Shall we?" Cayenne asked.

"We'll clear a path for you guys!" Luca replied in answer as she called to the other slaves and the two stepped outside.

"Runaway slaves!" A random Marine shouted.

"Do we capture them?" Another asked.

"Of course we capture them!" A superior Marine, most likely, replied.

"I guess we're no longer innocent bystanders anymore." Luca huffed.

Cayenne nodded. "We just need to make sure the rest of the slaves can get away."

"Right." The two broke into a run heading for the Marines.

"What do we do?" Someone called frantically.

"Just capture them!"

Too late. In an instant both Cayenne and Luca reached the marines. Luca punched the closest one to her while Cayenne knocked one down with a flying kick. Then there was chaos. Luca grabbed one marine and flung him into several others and Cayenne used a sweeping kick to knock down several more.

"RUN!" Luca shouted back to the former-recently-freed slaves.

They didn't need to be told twice, they shot off in all sorts of different directions. A mighty roar told Luca the giant had burst out of the auction house. Luca turned her attention back to her fight as she aimed a punch at another marine.

"Let's go!" Cayenne shouted after a few minutes and she vaulted over several marines at once, a spear in her hand that she managed to grab from somewhere.

"Sure!" Luca replied as she shoved forward. The moment they passed all the marines they took off. "My guess is to stay away from the lawless zone for now; this place is going to be crawling with marines even through I don't know why."

"Yeah, I think the hotel area should be a good place to go to." Cayenne said. Despite the fact that it was close to the marine headquarters, they wouldn't go after harmless civilians and if they blended with the civilians, they would have the perfect cover.

Without looking back, the two ran deeper into the archipelago. Never looking back and hoping that they would never see the two pirates who purchased them.

Ever again.

-x-

**Well? How was it? Reviews are welcome, especially constructive criticism! Flames are not.**


	2. Hide and Seek

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! Reviews always make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.**

**Chapter two didn't take too long for me; I was just on vacation last week and had no real access to a computer. Chapter three is just about two-thirds done but soon I'll be taking it slow so the manga can progress. I really want to see what Fishman Island and the New World are all about so I can write my chapters accordingly.**

**Sadly, **_One Piece_ **does not belong to me. It belongs to the genius creator that is Eiichiro Oda but all that you don't recognize from his work belongs to me.**

**Onwards!**

**As of 6/2813 this chapter has been edited.**

-x-

Once the commotion had died down many rumors sprung up like the bubbles that floated throughout the archipelago. There were rumors of Admiral Kizaru taking out many pirates, rumors of the destruction of the Straw Hat Pirates, rumors of four supernova captains battling the admiral, a World Noble dying, and even someone said they saw the pirate legend Silvers Rayleigh. Luca could hardly tell which one was real and which was not, but she didn't really care. All she cared about was getting back home.

Once she arrived at her small, but reasonable home she was going straight to bed and sleep all of this off and pretend it never happened. Once Law left with his crew to head for the New World, Luca could go on with her life.

If only fate could be that kind.

-x-

Trafalgar Law strolled through the mangroves, his nodachi resting against his shoulder and a small smile present on his face. He had managed to get past the fake Warlord, Kuma—well, he had to give some credit to Kidd and his crew—yesterday and take refuge in his ship. When Bepo gave him news that the commotion had died down and that the marines, along with Kizaru, left he departed from his ship, taking a hefty sum of money with him, and headed for Grove 1.

The slavers at the auction house were trying to save face by allowing the Nobles who paid for their slaves finish their purchase. Quite a few slaves had been captured by the marines, chained and collared once again, and turned back over to the slavers.

Law's smile faded a bit when he saw a familiar red-head already at the auction house. "Mr. Eustass." He greeted, walking up to the other supernova captain and one of the auction house employees.

Kid merely glanced at him from the corner of his eye while one of the auctioneers gave Law a hesitant hello and turned back to Kid. "As for your purchase of Cayenne," the man was saying, "it seems she was able to get away."

Law's grin grew again. "Then might I take it that Luca had also escaped?"

The man checked the list of names in his hands. "Yes."

The Surgeon of Death pondered for a moment. "She is still my purchase, yes?"

"Of course! The transaction isn't final, but..."

Kid snorted. "I'll pay the money I owe you and find her myself, is that what you're saying Law?"

"Of course. After all, they're still here somewhere." Law replied as he handed over the amount owed to the man.

Kid scoffed but handed his money over as well. "It would have been a better idea to have picked her up before everything got out of hand."

Law shrugged. "It might've been."

The two pirates didn't say anything to each other after that, they merely went on their way intending to find their purchases somewhere on the Archipelago.

-x-

Luca felt much more refreshed when she stepped out of the shower; the moment when she arrived home she just collapsed on her bed and conked out. And just knowing that she washed the stench of the auction house off of her made her feel so much better. She toweled herself off, already making a list of things to do.

First thing to do was to let her boss, Tez, know that she was okay; he was probably worried to death when she didn't show up after her lunch break. Luca finished getting dressed in a blue tank top, green zip-up hoodie, and black slacks and made her way downstairs. Outside, Cayenne was already waiting for her.

"It'd be best to take the alleys to the bar." Cayenne informed her; it seemed she already knew what Luca was planning to do.

"Mmhmm." Luca nodded as the two disappeared into the dark alleys. "How long do you think until they leave?" Referring to the pirates who the two women had to be wary of, Luca had already figured that had at least one day until the coast was truly clear.

"Until Ace's execution is over." Cayenne replied; her voice strained at the word execution. "No one would dare approach the New World while that is happening."

"Wait, what?" Luca stumbled as she almost tripped over her feet and stared at Cayenne in shock.

"Whitebeard's Ace is going to be executed."

Luca paled. "Oh god, they're asking for _war_." She groaned. The World Government tempting the strongest pirate's wrath? She shuddered at the thought of the Whitebeard pirates going against the World Government. That was a battle she did _not_ want to get caught up in.

"I know. Things are going to get ugly."

Taking several more turns, they found themselves standing across from the bar where Luca worked; _The Sea King_. Simple name, but it was famous for its grog and "damned good service with bartenders who didn't take shit from anyone" (according to Tez and several customers.) Luca and Cayenne walked in.

"Luca!" Immediately, Luca found herself being enveloped in hug and lifted off the ground. "I was so worried, what happened to you?" Tez looked down at her, relieved. Setting her down on the ground, the tall, burly man tilted his head, expectantly.

Tez, at thirty-nine was a large, intimidating man, usually always dressed in dark clothes in order to highlight his piercing gold eyes and thick scar running across his brow but he had a soft heart. His dark hair was already receding and showing gray steaks but it didn't subtract from his fierce look.

Luca cautiously scanned the bar. "Maybe we should go in the back, Tez." She suggested to him.

"Of course." Tez nodded and herded the two girls into the backroom, a small room where the employees usually took their breaks. Once they were safely there, Luca blurted out the entire story. When she was finished, Tez looked absolutely furious. "_Slavery_? They tried to sell you two into slavery?"

Cayenne nodded. "Yeah."

"So you see, with our 'situation' I think it would be best if I didn't come into work for awhile." Luca explained.

"Of course, Luca." Tez nodded and stroked the small beard adorning his chin. "I can do it myself or bring in Gill. You just watch out for your own safety m'dear. Leave the bar to me." He clapped a hand on her shoulder.

Luca smiled, relieved. "Thanks Tez."

"Anytime, Luc, anytime. Remember to take care of yourself, you too Cayenne."

Cayenne voiced her appreciation and gave him a grateful nod and the two departed again. They were silent for awhile, both lost in their thoughts, until Luca spoke up. "Would you go?"

Cayenne was jerked out of her thoughts. "What?"

"What you were talking about yesterday, if Kid wanted you to join his crew, would you have gone with him?"

The brunette was silent for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

Luca shrugged. "I just wanted to know if you've enticed the notion of piracy like I have."

"You?"

"Sometimes it seems like a good life, especially when my frustration with this place goes through the roof. Besides, don't you want to see the New World?" Luca looked skywards. The pirates who'd come and gone in the bar always talked about the New World, whether they've come back from it or were just about to head there. It was a hot topic for all pirates on the archipelago.

Luca had never told Cayenne but she was curious to know what the New World was like. And since it would be impossible for her to go the safe way (through Mariejois) the only way would be to go through Fishman Island. The pirate's route.

"I don't know." Cayenne started. "Sometimes I wouldn't mind leaving, but it's always nice to know that you have a home waiting for you."

"I'd think the ship would be home enough." Luca commented as she returned her attention back to ground level.

The older woman didn't say anything. "I'm going to search for some information; try to find out what happened yesterday." Cayenne changed the subject as they came to a split. "You'd do well to dye your hair something a little less inconspicuous."

Luca fingered a purple tendril of hair. "Yeah, I was getting kind of sick of this color anyway. Be careful."

"You too." The two friends parted and the bartender called to her departing friend. "This conversation isn't over, you know!"

Cayenne made no comment and Luca left for home. She reached her home and entered, locking the door as she went. Stripping off her zip-up, leaving herself only in her tank top, Luca walked up the stairs, entered her bathroom, and turned the faucet on.

While waiting for the water to get warm, she opened one of the cabinets and pulled out the color remover that she always bought from one of the stylists in the mall. It was a unique color remover because it just stripped away dye and left the original hair color alone.

_So what color do I want to dye it?_ Luca thought as she looked over the massive amounts of dye in every color imaginable with a critical eye. Ever since she entered the Grand Line she hated her bland blonde hair and once she was able to, she dyed it periodically. Due to trial and error she learned what colors were ideal (pinks and blues) and which were not (blacks and browns).

When she saw the color she wanted, she grinned and pulled it out as well. _This'll do._

Forty-five minutes later, Luca was lounging on the couch reading a book with her hair wrapped up in a towel. _I'm not even home an hour and I'm already bored,_ she thought sullenly. Usually, she spent most of her time bar-tending either nights or days, depending on when Tez needed her.

Luca enjoyed bar-tending, not only did she get to kick out drunks but working with drinks was enjoyable. She even participated in a lot of drinking games (she could out-drink Cayenne and that was something to be proud of) from time to time. It made the job so much fun.

Idly, she reached under the towel and felt her hair, it was dry. Shrugging it off and heading back to the bathroom to look in the mirror, she grinned when she saw her shoulder length hair was dyed cornflower blue.

-x-

Cayenne's eyebrows furrowed as she lounged against a wall, listening to the Nobles talk by one of the slave shops. "The Marines caught many of the escaped slaves yesterday." One of them was saying.

"What did they do?" The other asked as he examined one of the slaves in the window. Cayenne was suddenly struck by a memory of a nursery rhyme that Zia used to read to her. _How much is that doggie in the window?_

"Handed them back over to the auction house, they're letting nobles finish their payments and buy the remaining slaves." The other Noble said this so simply one would think he was talking about the weather.

Buy the remaining slaves? Cayenne bit her lip in worry. Hastily, she exited the shop. Going to look for information was a mistake. She never thought of the possibility that they would go after the escaped slaves. And she had never let a thought like that slip past her before. _I should have gone home._

Keeping her head down, she made her way through the grove, intending to make her way home with all haste.

-x-

Across the way, a man with jet black hair with two tendrils that stuck up narrowed his eyes at the departing woman with teal eyes and dark hair. He'd seen her before… But where? Then it dawned on him. She was the woman Captain Kid bought yesterday; the one he ordered the crew to keep an eye out for and report back to him when she was spotted.

Silently he disappeared into an alley and walked into the bar he just left, where his captain was nursing a few drinks. "Captain Kid." He said. "I found her."

-x-

Cayenne headed deeper and deeper into the grove, buried in her thoughts. _They're still looking for escaped slaves and if they find me…_ She shook her head; she wouldn't go down without a fight. This time she would be ready if they jumped her again and she would make sure that it wouldn't be a repeat of what happened last time.

Something compelled her to look up and she froze when she saw the figure standing the middle of the road. She recognized that big coat and bright red hair. _Oh God no._ Cayenne thought horrified as she watched Eustass "Captain" Kid walk towards her nonchalantly and now every instinct in her body was screaming at her to run.

"You've given me a lot of trouble." He spoke when they were just about five feet apart.

"Really?" Cayenne replied, sweeping the area around him with her eyes, searching for an escape route.

"Had you only stayed at the auction house like a good slave I wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of finding you." He gave her a mild glare but he was smirking as well. He wasn't worried, Cayenne realized, there was never any trouble for him. The man was confident that he would find her; which he did.

"You never paid for me, you don't own me." Cayenne shot back coolly.

The smirk on Kid's face grew, "And that's where you're wrong."

"_They're letting nobles finish their payments…"_ The words of the noble came rushing back to her and her eyes widened. Kidd had actually gone back to the auction house and paid for her. Then he did own her… No, she needed to run. Run now!

She bolted.

He raised a hand.

And she found herself stopping and being dragged back towards him. _What?_ She thought numbly, a tugging sensation was coming from her belt and the ring she wore around her finger. _He's a fruit user… Is it magnetism?_ Fruitlessly, she tried to keep running but the force was too strong and she landed in a heap at his feet.

Kid bent down and lifted her by the neck, slamming her into a nearby wall. Cayenne coughed. "There's nothing of value in buying… me… your money is wasted…" Black spots appeared in her vision.

The man merely grinned. "We'll see." He said and Cayenne's vision went black.

-x-

Seven hours, seven grievously long hours. That was how long Luca spent in her house. And she thought she was going to go insane. On top of that, Cayenne hadn't stopped by either; she was probably still out looking for information. Luca leapt out of the chair she was currently lounging in and headed for her room. The house around her felt like it was closing in on her, she needed air. _I'm heading for the bar._ It would be alright as long as she kept out of sight.

She changed her shirt for a white long sleeved one and unlocked her door and left, heading down the street. Never noticing the man in a white coat watch her walk down the way and then disappear into the shadows.

-x-

"Tez!" Luca called happily as she strolled merrily into the bar.

Tez did a double take when he saw her. "Luca? I thought you were lying low." He said sternly and groaned when he got a good look at her hair. "What did you do to your hair?"

Luca nodded. "I was but I decided to come here to visit you." Fluffing her hair, she grinned. "Like it?"

"You shouldn't have Luca. You're supposed to be hiding." He said, already gearing up to give the girl a lecture. "And you stand out like a sore thumb, Luc. You should have done something more natural."

"But I couldn't stand being in my house any longer!" She whined. "You know I don't do so well being stuck in one place for a long period of time. I had to get out!"

"Oi! Tez, where's our grog?" Someone in the back of the bar shouted.

"Wait your goddamned turn!" Tez bellowed. He turned back to Luca only to find her behind the bar taking orders. "Luca, I haven't finished with you."

"Relax Tez." Luca laughed as she filled a tankard, "You should get those guys their grog." She gestured to the customers on the stools. "I'll take care of these." Giving the customer their drinks, she smirked at her boss. "You didn't even call in Gill."

Gill, the third bartender employed at _The Sea King_, was a fishman. Since many strange people wandered throughout Sabaody, a fishman would have no trouble fitting in as long as he was careful.

Tez could only do nothing but sigh. "He went back home for a bit." They never mentioned the name of Gill's home out loud, even if a majority of the customers were pirates and didn't discriminate against the fish people. The female bartender merely nodded and continued taking orders.

The thirty-nine year old sighed again; Luca was stubborn but a damned good bartender and that was why he kept her around. And she knew how to mix drinks pretty well.

-x-

Trafalgar Law opened the door to his newest purchase's house and entered it silently. According to his subordinate, she left a little while ago but would undoubtedly return. And he wanted to be here to greet her when she did.

Of course, it wouldn't hurt to poke around. There was nothing in the first floor that was of interest to him so he walked upstairs and entered her bathroom. He smirked when he noticed that she used mango scented hair products and peach scented body wash. So she smelled like mango peach. He would have expected her to smell fiercer like cinnamon and not the feminine fragrance of fruit. The girl was full of surprises.

Law opened one of the cabinets and had to do a double take of the sheer amount of hair dyes that where in it. But he chuckled lowly. Now he had to find out what her original hair color was. Closing the door, he headed for his original destination: her bedroom.

Here, he found where her life lied. There were several photographs of her and the other woman that was also sold at the auction, some with her and a large burly man. Another depicted a younger Luca being enveloped in a hug by an older woman with dark blonde hair. Both were smiling but the picture had been shoved to the back. And there was also one with her arms wrapped around another man, both smiling happily. Law gave that one a cold look and knocked it face down on the dresser.

He passed over her book collection, and went through her dresser and closet and wondered why women needed to have large quantities of clothes. Law fingered them uninterestedly. Was this all to her? Surely the way she scowled at the potential buyers in the auction had showed that she at least had some character. Frustrated, he sat down on her bed and placed his nodachi next to him and made another sweep of the room.

What was he expecting? A journal? Law let out a hollow laugh; she didn't seem like the type. Oh well, he sighed, he'd supposed he'd have get to know her the old fashioned way. Law let himself relax, there was no rush, she would come home. He could wait.

-x-

Luca smiled happily as she served people at the bar. "Here you go." She said as she placed one of her creations in front of a customer.

"Thanks Luca." He said gratefully as he nursed it, "you have such a way when you create your masterpieces…"

Luca let his flattery fly over her and tuned him out; she was used to it. Over the way, Tez was walking over to her, a disapproving look on his face. "I think its time you left, Luca." He said when he reached her.

The way he was looking at her meant he wasn't taking no for an answer. Luca sighed in defeat. "Alright Tez, you win."

A relieved smile spread on his face. "Good." He hugged her. "Take care, Luc."

"Yessir." Luca replied as she hugged him back. "Since Gill's not here, call in one of the waitresses or something. No need to strain yourself, manning the place all by your lonesome. Rush hour's almost here!"

"Get goin' kid!" Tez rumbled as he turned back to the customers.

Luca shook her head but left out the back and hummed merrily as she made her way back to home. Despite the fact that she knew she should have stayed in hiding, Luca wasn't one to wait. She liked to act whether or not the time called for it, for better or for worse.

Turns out, it was for the worse.

-x-

Cayenne's eyes fluttered as she slowly came to her senses. Where was she? As she moved, the recent events came rushing back. Quickly she sat up and groaned from the blood rushing to her head. Massaging it, she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on a bed in a well furnished room, the captain's quarters maybe? Gingerly she got off the bed and looked around again…

…Wait.

What was around her neck? Her hand flew up to feel something cool and metallic around her throat. Did he collar her? Her fingers traced it, it wasn't one of the exploding collars, but it was a collar all the same. _It must be for his ability's benefit._ She breathed in, all too aware of the metallic restriction around her throat.

_Ignore it for now, Cayenne; concentrate on finding a way out._ She told herself. But where should she start?

-x-

Almost on instinct, Luca tensed the moment she crossed the threshold of her door. Something was amiss… She clenched her fist, someone was in her house. _Idiot, you forgot to lock the door._ In her haste to get out of the house, she had forgotten to lock her door. The first floor felt empty, devoid of life except for her so whoever they were, they were on the second floor.

She headed up the stairs and made a beeline for her bedroom. In the middle of the doorway she stopped cold and had to keep her jaw from dropping open in surprise. Whoever she _was _expecting she didn't expect _Trafalgar Law_ to find her house, let alone be the one sitting on the edge of her bed.

"It's impolite to enter someone's house without permission, you know." She tried to say it nonchalantly but to her, it sounded shaky. He had caught her by surprise and she did not like it. Not one bit.

Law merely smirked. "I believe I got the right to your privacy when I bought you." He fingered his nodachi disinterestedly as his eyes examined her, sweeping up and down her body.

"You didn't buy me," Luca snapped in an attempt to hide her discomfort. "I got out before you came to pay." Under his searching eyes, she shivered slightly. She didn't know why but she felt that he wasn't bothered at all; there was no awkwardness from him as if he was just looking at her on a professional level.

He chuckled lowly and stood up, bringing his nodachi back up to his shoulder. "You'll find that I _did _pay for you." He walked closer to her; his eyes never leaving hers.

On instinct, still keeping eye contact, she slid to her right, her back scraping against the door frame. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I went back to the Auction house and paid the eight-hundred thousand that I bid on you, therefore you are my property now." Law kept walking closer and Luca kept sliding away.

"Hell no." She bit back at him. Now her body was tense as all the nerves in her body were on fire and her muscles coiled, ready to spring.

"But I think so." Was all he said.

"I'm no one of interest." Luca tried a different approach when her back hit the wall. Inwardly she cursed, she allowed herself to get backed into a corner. "I'm just a bartender."

Law stood in front of her, they were now a few inches apart. _He is very, very tall. And very handso-Quiet brain! _ Once again, she was cursing her stupidity; her heart hammering from the closeness. He must have sensed her discomfort because the smile of his face grew and he slowly lifted a hand up. Luca did her best not to flinch as she cautiously kept an eye on him and his hand.

He merely placed his hand flat on the wall next to her head but his hand was close enough for his thumb to stroke her temple. "I know a lost investment when I see one," He leaned closer, their noses mere centimeters apart now. "You, my dear, aren't one."

Luca swallowed hard and closed her eyes trying to block him out. _Tooclosetooclosetooclosetooclose-he smells nice-SHUT UP!_

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and his dark orbs met with her brown ones. "Bite me." She lifted her knee and hit him, missing her intended target but managed to strike his thigh. He stumbled back from the shock and not the hit itself.

But by the time he recovered she had bolted. Immediately, he went for the door to head her off. Luca noticed him out the corner of her eye; _he'll get to the door before I will…_Wildly, she scanned the room for another escape route and saw one._ WINDOW!_ Changing directions, she launched herself out the window. Glass shattered and rained down as Luca fell to the ground. Luckily she managed to roll and let her whole body absorb the shock instead of just her legs.

Law's smile disappeared as he quickly strode over to the now busted window to see Luca stand up and brush the pieces of broken glass off her; she didn't even look back as she sprinted away. "Damn it." He growled angrily as he punched the wall with his fist, leaving a decent sized dent.

He let her get away twice now and he intended to make sure she wouldn't get away again.

In her case, the third time would _not_ be the charm.

-x-

**Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! Flames are not.**


	3. Cat and Mouse

**Wow, just wow. The first thing that I have to say is that this chapter is looooooong. Twenty-five pages! And I was even thinking of writing even more but I decided to stop.**

**Parts of this I kept going back to because I thought there was either too much angst or too much self-reflection. Hopefully there isn't much, because I was aiming to set the stage for some character growth and create of distinction between Cayenne and Luca's personalities.**

**Thank you all very much for the reviews! Reviews always make an author feel all happy (and it's a good motivator to begin the next chapter too, -hint hint-).**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and I don't have any money so please don't sue.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

After surveying the room completely and out of all the options she considered for escape, picking the lock would be the best. Breaking down the door was out of the question, it was too loud and she would draw attention to herself. Waiting for someone to come into the room was too risky. She had no idea how strong these pirates were and didn't want to risk fighting anyone. There weren't any windows so that was another escape route she didn't have. But she needed to find something that she could use to pick the lock and _fast_.

If she could find something to pick the lock with, that is. The best thing she could find was a couple of quills on the desk. She continued to fruitlessly search everywhere hoping for something better but she couldn't find anything. Not even a small knife.

_Maybe this isn't the Captain's quarters._ Cayenne thought resignedly as she crouched in front of the lock. She inserted one quill and then the other, moving one and keeping the other still. A tendril of her dark brown hair fell into her face and she blew it away, still keeping her eyes on the lock.

Wait. She ran a hand through her thick hair. Sometimes when she put her hair up a few bobby pins were lost in its depths. It wasn't until she brushed it back out did she find a bobby pin that she missed.

But Cayenne was doubtful that there was one hidden somewhere. And she was correct, there wasn't one. Why didn't she pin up her hair? _It wouldn't hurt to keep a bobby pin handy; make sure to get some and pin my hair up more often. _She groused mentally as she went back to picking the lock with the quills.

Several minutes and many curses later the lock finally _clicked_ open and Cayenne opened the door. Edging out the door, she took a peek out at the hallway. There was no one around. She ran to the end of the hall and cautiously peeked around the corner. The coast was still clear. _Did they expect me to be knocked out for a longer period of time?_

She didn't want to question that thought when she headed down the hallway. Where was the deck? If she could orient herself with the ship then getting _off_ the ship would be easy. As long as she didn't run into Kid. With the metal collar around her neck she wouldn't be getting very far. _Step one is getting off the ship, worry about the collar later, Cayenne._ She reprimanded herself.

As luck would have it, she found the door leading to the deck but peaking through the small window she noticed that there were crew members out there. The most notable was the man with the long blond hair and the blue and white mask. The first mate, "Massacre Man" Killer, she recalled. Though she couldn't remember his bounty, she knew he was one of the supernovas.

New plan, she would have to find a window or a cannon port in order to get out. But where could she find one? As she was thinking out several more plans, she froze when she heard heavy footsteps approaching. _Hide!_ Cayenne raced for the other end of hallway and took refuge around the corner as a man with black hair turned the corner and went out onto the deck.

_Have to be more careful. That was too close for comfort._ Cayenne breathed a small sigh of relief but then a grin found its way onto her face when she spotted the window. She had caught another break and she didn't want to be around Kid's ship when she didn't catch any more, in fact she wanted to be as far away as possible.

The brunette opened the window and managed to squeeze herself through the small hole. She grabbed onto a railing (that was _very_ close to the deck, she noted) and used her foot to close the window as best as she could. Now the only thing to do was to make it to the island without being seen. If she had to, she would fall into the water and make a swim for it.

But for now, she would climb. She lowered herself down to the next thing she could grab onto and start to shimmy across the ship. Halfway across someone approaching the ship's railing directly above her made her stop and press herself against the wood.

"How long until Captain Kid returns?" Another crew member approached the first.

"He left to do some business on his own, he'll get back when he gets back." The other snapped.

"I thought his 'own business' meant he was looking for that slave he bought or having us look for her." They were talking about her. Cayenne pressed herself harder into the wood. "Why would he waste his time with a slave anyway?"

There was sound of a blade being drawn. "What Captain Kid does is no concern of yours." The second person snarled. "You want to question him further?"

"Whoa, whoa, Killer." The other man said nervously. "I was just wondering why he would buy a slave. Pirates have no need for them. After all, all they do is get in the way. And if he's not planning on having her join the crew..." He trailed off suggestively.

The other person, now identified as Killer, merely snorted. "Don't get any ideas because she's a woman."

"What?" He asked, his voice high pitched.

"Captain won't give you his slave." Killer sounded angry, frustrated even. "You'd better leave now if you don't want a new breathing hole."

"Jesus, man!" The guy defended himself. "All I wanted to know was why he wanted to buy her in the first place!"

Killer growled something unintelligible and the sound of quick footsteps told her that the second man had run off. But she couldn't tell if Killer had left as well. She took a chance and looked up, only to see a white and blue mask looking down at her.

"Shit." She said and let go of the wood, falling into the water.

"Dammit, she escaped!" She heard Killer shout when she surfaced.

She didn't hear anything more as she began to swim like mad for the shoreline, hoping that she would still have time to get away before they reached her. Once at the shoreline she pulled herself onto a mangrove root and began to climb up. _Have to get back on the ground._ Cayenne thought determinedly.

As she reached the grass she managed to stand but a whistling sound through the air made her duck and she saw a few strands of her hair float to the ground. Killer had followed her and she was finally able to get a good look at him. Well, a good look at the two deadly bladess attached to his wrists.

"You can always walk away." Cayenne tried to reason with him as they circled each other.

"I'm not going to let Captain Kid's slave get away." Killer growled. How on earth was his voice so clear when he was wearing a mask?

"Unfortunately, I beg to differ." Cayenne lunged at him.

Killer reacted and took a swipe at her. She dodged and grabbed a hold of one of his wrists, aiming a kick at him. He used his free arm to block and the blades suddenly began to spin. Cayenne let out a yelp of pain as her wrist was slashed and she stumbled back.

_I didn't know they could do that._ Cayenne thought as Killer lunged again. This time, she evaded the blades and planted a kick squarely on his chest making him to be the one to stumble back this time. Before he could recover she had rushed him and with a firm push, sent him over the edge to the water below.

Since she didn't want to stick around to see if he hit the water or grabbed onto a root, she was already running for the district she wanted to take cover in: the shopping district.

-x-

Three hours earlier, Luca was also running for her life as she put as much distance between her and her house, and especially Law, as she could. The thought that he had managed to find the place where she lived unnerved her. There were many questions running through her mind. _H__ow did he find me? How long was he there? Why me?_ Luca desperately tried to shove thoughts of him into the far corners of her mind but the closeness between their bodies still lingered in her head.

She could still feel his body heat and his touch when his thumb touched her—"Quit it!" Luca howled to herself. She couldn't afford to be distracted, not now, not when her adrenaline was high and head feeling light. The best place for her to be right now would be back at _The Sea King_ under Tez's care.

Luca practically skidded into the bar and she managed to gasp, "T-Tez!" When she placed her hand on the wall to steady herself, it was then she noticed that she was shaking. Anger coiled in her stomach. She never thought of herself as someone who scared easily but this? Maybe she was just in shock, she wasn't scared, she _couldn't_ be.

Tez looked up at her and opened his mouth to reprimand her again but at the sight of her red face and heaving chest, he took up a look of concern instead. "Luca? What's wrong?"

"Back room." She wheezed. "_Now_."

The large man stood up and shouted over his shoulder. "All of you behave now, y'hear? If I catch one of you stepping out of line and disrupting the peace, so help me…" Tez let the threat hang in the air as he whisked the nineteen-year-old into the back room.

Handing her a glass of water he commanded her to drink and guided her to a chair. "Now, what happened?"

Luca lifted the glass to her lips and drank deeply. "Law…" Gulp. "Was at my house." Gulp.

Tez swore. "He didn't follow you here, did he?"

Luca froze. "I didn't think to check." Again her mind went back to her bedroom, _"I'm just a bartender"_ and the water in her stomach seemed to freeze. _S__he had told him that she was a bartender._ She looked to her boss and said lamely. "I, uh, might have let it slip that I worked at a bar."

Tez swore again as he went for the door and scanned the people in the bar. He went back to the poor girl. "Luca, what were you thinking?"

"I don't know." Luca set the glass down. "I panicked and thought I could just hide out here when I made it out of the house."

"Unlikely," Tez said. "Bars are key places to find someone, they're big hotspots for info. And especially since you told him about your job, his area for searching is potentially cut in half. No Luca, what you need to do is _hide in plain sight._"

Luca stared at him blankly. "Pardon?"

"Just make yourself blend in with the crowd, Luca. Find a place that's crawling with people and go with the flow."

"If you haven't noticed Tez I don't think I could blend well." She pointed at her hair. "I'm practically a gigantic and colorful sign." Even though logic was telling she should regret dying her hair an unnatural color but she was too stubborn to say that. She liked her hair.

"There's a sweatshirt that you left here in my office." He said. "Use that to hide your hair and face."

She gaped at him like a fish. "How do you know so much. More importantly, why are you always prepared?"

He chuckled. "I used to be a bounty hunter back in the day. Pretty damn good one, too."

"A _bounty hunter, you_?" Luca asked stunned. She never would have thought that Tez of all people would hunt those with bounties.

"I even tried to go after Roger, once." He smiled at the memory. "I was a foolish seventeen year old." He shook his head. "I learned an important lesson that day."

"You tried to get the Pirate King?" Luca squeaked.

"Tried and failed." Tez said brightly.

"Still…" Tez a bounty hunter… She could barely wrap her mind around it. "How did you get into bartending?"

"That's a story for another day." He said dismissively and then he returned to business, "Now, Luca. The best place would be the shopping district. There are many people there and you should be fine. Once the shops start closing down, head to the hotel district. No, scratch that. There could be pirates there. There's a bar in the lawless zone, the proprietor is an old friend. Just ask for Shakky and say Tez sent you. She should give you shelter for the night."

Luca nodded, absorbing all of the information. "First hide out in the shopping district and then head over to Shakky's bar. Got it?" Tez disappeared into his office and returned with Luca's gray sweatshirt.

She gave it a surprised look. "I thought I lost that."

"You just left it here one time. I never thought to give it back to you." He handed it over to her and she pulled it on, and used the hood to obscure her face, making sure any loose tendrils of hair were hidden. When Luca gave Tez a nod he embraced her. "I know you're the type who just does the first thing that comes to mind but you can't do that anymore." They pulled away put he kept his hands on her shoulders. "You need to start thinking before you act otherwise you might get yourself killed." She swallowed and nodded, promising to herself that she would try. Be safe, Luc." He whispered.

"I will." Luca nodded. "Thanks for everything Tez."

"No problem." Tez said. "Oh, I did some digging and Law's crew members wear big white coats with their flag on them. You can't miss 'em."

"Thanks." Luca said gratefully. "Bye Tez."

"Bye Luc."

And with that, Luca left. But she couldn't help but feel that that goodbye was going to be their last.

-x-

Another thought nagged at Luca, where was Cayenne? The last time she had seen her was when they went their separate ways, Luca to her house and Cayenne to go look for information.

That was eight hours ago. She frowned. Cayenne would have stopped by even when she didn't do everything she would have liked to. Especially with the circumstances, she would have made sure that her friend was safe. _It's not like her, I usually see her about three times a day except when she gets bu—sy…_

Law's words came back to her. _"I went back to the Auction House and paid the 800,000 I bid on you."_

_Back… Auction House… Paid… Eight-hundred thousand bid…_

Oh _fuck._

Did Cayenne run into Kid? Luca's heart clenched, that had to be the only plausible reason. Cayenne was found by Kid and he took her. She clenched a fist, _how could I be so stupid not to see it when she didn't come back?_

She stopped in the middle of road, thinking… And then she pivoted and headed deeper into the lawless zone. _I can't abandon her, I'll find you Cayenne and I'll help you._ Tez's plan went straight out the window as she hurried past his bar. After all, the only way to find a pirate was to go where they would flock.

_Hang on Cayenne._

-x-

Tez would kill her if he knew she was wandering around major pirate hangouts. The point of hiding from Law was to stay _away_ from places like this. But her sense of loyalty to her best friend was higher than common sense in her book.

But even after all her searching, she couldn't find anything about the location of Kid's ship. Sure people had information on him and some had seen him at a couple bars. Luca wasn't looking to start a fight with him (though she really wanted to but she was trying to take Tez's words to heart.) She was a good fighter but she doubted that she would last very long in a one-on-one fight with the highest bounty on the archipelago.

According to several people, Kid also had a devil fruit backing him up as well. Something to do with magnetism, so even if she stripped herself off all the metal items on her person, there would be metal all around them as most pirates wander around highly armed. He would have a major advantage over her.

And that was not something she was willing to risk. She would have to wait until she found Cayenne, then the battles could start (worst-case scenario.) For now, she was content to keep a low profile (if not for Cayenne but for herself as well.) So it did pay to use your brains before charging forward, she'd have to thank Cayenne for that. Despite that Luca's idea of finding Cayenne was bashing Kid's face in until he let her go. And it was something that sounded really enticing right about now.

Of course, she should have known that it was impossible to keep a low profile in the lawless zone. Rowdy pirates were everywhere and would love any excuse for a fight (except now they were willing to keep quiet in fear of Kizaru's return), kidnappers could be found at every other corner, hoping to catch a pirate that would sell for big money at the (now ruined) Auction House, and, of course, several gangs who enjoyed showing pirates who's boss in these parts hung around many bars.

So in accordance to all of those facts, and Murphy's Law, she shouldn't have been surprised to find herself surrounding by several men, but she was. She was lost in her thoughts and that allowed the men to gang up on her. The scene where the slavers attacked her and Cayenne came to mind and she became angry. She was distracted then and now, and both times people had snuck up on her. When did she become so absent-minded? Or was she always the absent-minded one? Wasn't it always Cayenne's job to look out for the both of them? Since when did Luca care about consequences?

Then again, she dumped a lot of responsibility on Cayenne's shoulders. Maybe it was time she became responsible for herself. But now was not the time to go through a self-evaluation.

"Walk away now and you can leave with your prides intact." Luca growled. If she wouldn't be able to get them to leave by talking, then she would gladly let her fists do the talking. Something she would enjoy very much.

"I think not, _Luca_." Someone stepped out from behind the man standing in front of her. A woman a little older than Cayenne wearing and plan black shirt and light blue jeans placed herself in front of the blue-haired girl. Seesa, the leader of the _Blue Hound_ gang, stood in front of her, her slender mouth in a smirk. The blonde (like her) stood with her hands on her hips as she all but glared at Luca.

And Luca glared back. They had been enemies since Luca ran around years ago getting into any fights that she could. Seesa had been one of them and the both of them had come out of their fight heavily injured. Needless to say, they didn't enjoy each other's company very much, even now. The bartender scowled. "Seesa, I'm not in the mood."

"Then next time when you're "not in the mood" don't be wandering around where I can catch you." Seesa smiled nastily.

_I wonder if I can knock out some of those teeth._ Luca thought irately as Seesa said something else. "Have you seen Cayenne at all?" Luca interrupted Seesa's tirade of what she was going to do to Luca. Sure she would love to knock the blonde around but she needed to find Cayenne. That and Tez's advice about drawing attention to herself also helped keep her in line.

"No." Seesa seemed startled but she regained her composure. "Aren't you two always joined at the hip?"

_Hmm, I guess we are._ Luca now thought idly as she ignored Seesa once again. "Are you done plotting my demise out loud now?" She asked pointedly and loudly.

Seesa's mouth dropped open but she quickly closed it as her face contorted with anger. "Listen here, _you_." She spat as she stomped closer to Luca and slapped her across the cheek, one of her nails leaving a large scratch. "You're in _my_ territory now, you better keep your toe in line or you'll be paying the consequences."

Once again, Luca wasn't listening as she gently ran two fingers over the scratch, wincing as she did. It wasn't very deep but it would leave a mark for a good while and seeing the blood on her fingers made her just… _snap._ And in that moment, Luca felt like the old Luca: hot-tempered and ready for a fight. "_You bitch_." Luca hissed as she squared off against the blonde.

She merely smirked. "What? Can't take a simple scratch? You're pathe—"

Seesa was cut short as Luca launched herself at the other woman, tackling her to the ground. And the next thing both women knew was that they were rolling around on said ground biting, kicking, scratching, and pulling at each other's hair.

"Umm… Seesa?" One of the onlookers muttered as he watched the two fighting women.

"Wow." Another one said.

"Bitch!" Luca snarled again.

"Slut!" Seesa retorted as she grabbed a fistful of Luca's hair and pulled.

Luca retaliated by scratching the other woman's arms but found it worked to no avail, her nails were bitten down pretty bad. So she bit her instead, causing Seesa to howl. "Let go!" Seesa pulled harder on Luca's hair and she bit harder in response as her fist managed to punch the other woman in the face. Seesa would have a nice black eye by dinner time.

The both of them seemed to realize what they were doing at the same time. _O__h God, we're in a _catfight_._ Seesa let go of Luca's hair and Luca stopped biting Seesa's arm and they both stared at each other. _I think we both just lost some respect from a couple people._ Luca thought. While some, men preferably, enjoyed seeing two women in a catfight like that but to women, that was just pathetic. It was their version of fighting below the belt, so to speak.

A loud _pop_ and a stinging sensation in Luca's right arm made her gasp and fall off of Seesa. She looked at her arm and saw blood and looked up to see one of Seesa's men holding a smoking gun that was currently pointing at her. _He… shot me!_ Luca thought weakly as she stood up, her hand covering the wound. Her arm felt sticky and warm.

"That… hurt." Luca choked out and turned around, intending to leave the circle of men, and almost bumped into one of them as she stumbled past them. She had vaguely made out Seesa staring at her with an expression of mild horror… and was that satisfaction? Luca fought the bile that threatened to rise up in her throat and she felt lightheaded.

"What the hell were you thinking?" She heard Seesa demand but she could hardly care less. The only thing she cared about was making the pain in her arm go away. The bartender wasn't a stranger to pain. She had her fair share of broken bones, cuts, scratches, bloody noses, black eyes, and bruises. But she had never been shot before. There had been people at the bar who pulled a gun on her but thanks to her reflexes and Tez's interference she never had to deal with a bullet wound.

Until now.

She reached a mangrove root and leaned against it breathing heavily. Now she was feeling weak and her vision was a little bit blurry. She had no idea that being shot hurt this _bad_.

"That looks painful." Luca turned to her right and let out a sound that was a mix of a scream and a yelp.

Trafalgar Law was leaning against another root, nodachi over his shoulder and small smile on his face, watching her intently.

"Y-you…" Luca stuttered. "Are you _following_ me?"

Law smirked. "You're not very inconspicuous when you're the only person in a crowd hiding your face."

Luca let out a shaky breath. This was another thing she did not want to deal with. "Go 'way."

"You're hurt." He stated conversationally.

"I can see that." She snapped at him, trying to edge away from him. Her arm stung in pain when she accidentally bumped it against a root. Gasping, Luca almost fell over but managed to catch herself in time. All the while, Law was watching her—was it in amusement?—and she determinedly avoided looking in his direction.

"I told… you." She huffed. "I don't belong to you. I'm no one's property but my own."

"Keep thinking that." He replied as he approached her. Luca tensed and watched him like a hawk as he gently placed a hand on her injured arm. "I can fix that." Her arm tingled even though he was barely putting any pressure on it. Luca attempted to look at him but he was currently looking at her blood-stained sweatshirt sleeve—_dang, I liked this sweatshirt too—_but his eyes moved upwards and looked at her. "I'd have to take you to my ship though."

"No." Was the first thing that came blasting out of her mouth. She knew what he was trying to do and there was _no_ way she would ever step foot on Law's ship.

Law was silent for a moment. "You need medical attention." His eyes bore into hers. "Or something worse might happen and then you'll have no arm."

"Then I'll find a doctor _here_." Luca snapped, backing away again. "Leave me alone!" Her stomach rolled and she almost blanched. _D__on't let me throw up_. She silently prayed to anyone who might be listening above. The man didn't move, he was still standing there. "I said go away, didn't I?" She spat.

Instead, Law moved even closer, a cold fury now present in his eyes. In that moment, Luca's breath caught and she swore her heart almost stopped beating. The way he was moving towards her made her feel like a very small mouse who was staring into the eyes of a very angry cat that was itching to sink its claws into said mouse. One of Law's reputations was that he was extremely merciless. _What if he's going to kill me?_ Luca thought in her panic as she watched Law come closer.

His hand encased her wounded arm and he gave it a quick and firm squeeze. Pain shot through her arm and Luca let out of pained cry and tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. "Stop!"

As quickly as he had squeezed he let go, still looking at her in cold and quiet fury. "Don't order me around. I don't take to it well."

He deliberately aggravated her wound because she told him to leave her alone? Luca stared at him in shock. _H__e's a captain,_ a voice reminded her, _he's used to being the one to give the orders not the one to receive them._ Still dumbfounded, the next words that came out of her mouth didn't feel like her own. "You can treat my arm."

Law smirked but Luca hurriedly went on, desperate to correct herself. "At _my_ place. Take it or leave it."

That was a choice, not a command and she prayed he would take it that way. Law's cold look was replaced by his usual smile and Luca let out a sigh of relief. "Lead the way." Law stepped out of her way and allowed to lead him back to her place.

They walked in silence. Luca was tense as she attempted to stay alert for any funny business he might pull off but the dull throbbing of her arm kept her from keeping her full attention on him. The cat was playing with the mouse, biding its time before it sank its teeth into its victim. The Law from the bedroom was gone and this one was just toying with her.

She didn't even know what he wanted, was he looking for a new crew member like Cayenne had thought? Or was he just looking for a toy? She still didn't know why he had bought her. The idea of not knowing what Law wanted made her feel sick again but then again, that could've been her arm as well.

"Hey." Law's voice was in her ear and she jumped, turning around to stare at him. He stared back in amusement and lazily flicked his head to point behind him. "You just walked past your house."

Luca's face burned in embarrassment as he went to the front door and opened it, beckoning her to enter. With a sense of foreboding she crossed the threshold of her door and into her house. Everything looked the same as earlier but there was a draft, most likely from the now broken window upstairs. And for some reason, it didn't feel like home anymore. Any warmth her place held had been extinguished by Law's mere presence.

"Sit on the couch," Law spoke as he went into the kitchen. "I'll get the supplies."

"First aid's in the bathroom." Luca mumbled as she plopped down on the couch.

"I know." Law said. A reminder to her that he had been in her house before and was familiar with it. "Just stay on the couch." If she hadn't been shot, she would've snapped at him. There were only two people who could attempt to control her: Cayenne and Tez. And attempt was the keyword there.

Guilt settled in her stomach, she wasn't able to find her. She wasn't even able to remotely find any trace of her. If the roles were reversed, Cayenne would have found her so quickly Law wouldn't have time to do anything. _I'm sorry Cayenne, I'm not you. _Luca thought guiltily.

Footsteps told her Law returned, holding a glass of water and the first aid kit. He set the glass in front of her on the table and sat down on the couch to her right. "Take off your sweatshirt."

Gingerly, Luca managed to remove her sweatshirt until Law could peel it from her injured arm. He ripped the white sleeve off so he could examine the wound. "The bullet's still in there," he told her. "I'll have to remove it."

"Fine." Luca looked pointedly away from the hole in her arm. She wasn't squeamish or anything but the idea of watching Law pull out a bullet that was covered in her blood from her arm was enough to make her look away.

"If we went back to my ship I could have given you some anesthesia." Law commented as he poured some water on the wound and gently wiped the blood away with the clean part of her sleeve. "It's going to hurt."

"It's not like I've never been in pain before." Luca said as she determinedly looked anywhere but at her arm. "Just do it."

Another painful squeeze reminded her of his dislike of being ordered around. But she clenched her teeth and a painful hiss managed to slip out as she felt the cold tweezers enter the hole and pull out the bullet. "Hold still." Law said as the bloody bullet fell onto her table with a _clink_.

_It's so little…_ Luca thought in fascination as she looked at the small piece of metal that was in her arm. It was amazing how something so small could cause so much pain. They didn't say anything more to each other as Law began to stitch up her arm.

For a moment Luca considered asking him why he was the one to buy her in the Auction House but she hesitated, she didn't know if he was the kind of doctor who didn't like being interrupted while he worked. _You once ran headfirst into a bar fight, while laughing hysterically, and you're afraid of asking _him_ a _question_?_ Luca thought heatedly. Maybe she was just in shock… Yeah. She was just in shock, that's why she wasn't being very outspoken.

_With what's happened over the last couple days, I'll just say that's why. I'm too tired for this._ In the corner of her eye, Law wrapped the wound on her arm with gauze and tied the knot. Throughout the whole ordeal he did not once speak of anything else but telling her to hold still. The way he acted while treating her arm was done somewhat in a professional way. She wouldn't have expected him of that.

_His nicknames are the "Surgeon of Death" and "Dark Doctor."_Luca reminded herself. _H__e has to be a doctor of some sort…_ She shuddered a little as images of bloody scalpels, organs in jars, and whatnot went flying through her mind.

"Here." Law spoke and she turned to him to see him holding another glass of water out to her. When did he leave? "You need fluids, it'll help."

She cautiously took the glass and examined it, it looked alright. "Is it safe?" She asked.

"It came from your faucet." Law replied.

Gingerly, she tasted it. It tasted like regular water and she found herself gulping down the entire glass. When she set the glass down an awkward silence filled the air. _Ask him!_ Luca hissed at herself. Law chuckled before she opened her mouth. "What?"

"Nothing. Tell me, what was going through your mind when you were in front of all those Nobles?"

Her mouth dried a bit. "Daring any of them to buy me and praying that it wasn't a World Noble who would."

"Were you relieved when it wasn't?"

"I…" Now that she looked back, she couldn't help but feel slight relieved that it wasn't a World Noble but it was quickly replaced with worry about Law. "None of your business."

"I do believe it is." Law replied.

"Stop it! How many times do I have to tell you?" Luca said angrily as she stood up, the vertigo made her dizzy and she swayed. But her vision began to get blurry as she looked from Law's smug face to her empty glass. The truth dawned on her and with horror she said, "you drugged my drink…"

Law shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't come willingly."

"You fu—" Luca swayed as she almost fell to the ground but strong arms around her told her Law had caught her. She was right when his face entered her vision. It was the last thing she saw before the dark abyss swallowed her and she knew no more.

-x-

It was very difficult to walk through the shopping district when the collar around Cayenne's neck made her look like a runaway slave. If she wanted to think about it in a technical sense then she was a runaway slave and it didn't stop people from giving her weird, sad, contemptuous, and almost frightened looks.

That didn't stop her from moving forward but it did make her walk a little more quickly. It wouldn't be long until people noticed the fact that her collar wasn't making that sing-song beep and she really didn't want to know what kind of conclusions they would make.

She wished she had worn a sweatshirt to hide said collar because people would start talking and those whispers might make their way to Kid's ears. Not something she would prefer. Cayenne jogged a little faster and kept her head down, her hair falling into her face and shielding it from others' curious glances so they couldn't identify her.

When she found the store she was looking for she hastily entered, there was a small jingle of a bell and she was greeted by an empty store with rows and rows of metal weapons and tools.

Another door opened and Cayenne was blasted by intense heat. A man a little older than her wearing a black apron and thick gloves walked in. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his face was covered in dirt and grime. He stopped when he caught sight of Cayenne. "Cayenne?"

"Mason." Cayenne greeted. Mason was an apprentice in the shop and became her friend when she used to visit the blacksmith shop regularly, his eyes trailed to her neck and rested on the collar. "I need your help."

"You want that off?" He nodded at the collar. "I don't know if I can…"

"I'm sure you have the skills." She told him and moved towards the door. "I don't have much time." 

"What's going on Cayenne?" Mason moved in front of her, blocking her path to the forgery. "Are you in trouble?"

"The less you know the better." She replied and gazed at him, her normally calm teal eyes were tinted with apprehension. "I just need to get it off."

He frowned, thinking it over. "It'll be difficult." He said as he moved away, allowing her into the forgery. She stepped through and almost broke out sweating from the heat of the fires.

Looking around, she noticed that there wasn't anyone else around. "Where's the master?"

"Retired." Mason said. "I took over nearly a year and a half ago."

"Wow…" Cayenne muttered.

"I would have told you but you haven't visited in nearly two…" Mason trailed off.

"I decided walking around armed was a sure way to get attention from the wrong sorts of people." She told him shortly.

He shrugged, good ole' Mason, he never questioned her. "Come here and we'll see what I can do."

She obediently plopped down into a chair and pulled her hair up, allowing him to examine the metal encasing her neck. "Wow, there's no welding marks whatsoever. In fact, I don't see any evidence that it was connected."

"I think the man who did this is a devil fruit user with a magnet-like ability." Cayenne said recalling her brief meeting with Kid.

"Still… there'd be something. Hang on." He walked away and came back with some pieces of cloth. "I'm going to put this between the collar and your neck since there's no mark, I'm going to have to cut through." He looked her in the eyes, teal meeting with dull gray. "Despite the cloth, it's going to hurt."

"It'll be fine." She said softly.

With her hair still out of the way, the cloth was put in place, Cayenne bended over so her neck was more exposed to the blacksmith. He was currently walking towards her with a metal tool that glowed red hot. "What I'll do is heat it up enough to cut through and then heat the front so I can bend it some more, it should come off easily after that."

"Okay." Her stomach had many butterflies fluttering through it at the though of having hot metal by her neck but the collar needed to come off. Mason's gloved hand encased hers that was holding her hair up. It was his way of showing her that he cared. _Mason…_ She thought of warning him not to get any ideas. Once she had considered him to be more than a friend but looking back on the relationship they once had told her it would never have worked out in the end.

"Here we go." Mason took a deep breath and lowered the hot metal. The moment it connected there was a hissing sound as the collar began to heat up.

She tried not to squirm as her neck began to sweat against the itchy, damp, and hot cloth. It felt like there was small ray of the sun shining against her neck and it took a lot of her strength not to flinch away.

"Okay, it's pretty soft. I'm going to cut it." Mason's voice was low in her ear, all of his attention was focused on her neck.

In another moment, Cayenne felt a small breeze of cool air as the cloth fell away as did a part of the collar and she began to turn her head to try and keep it away from the ends, only to feel something hot press against her neck. "OW!" She screamed out as she jolted in shock from her neck touching the metal and it touched the hot metal again.

"I'm sorry!" Mason apologized as his hand kept her head in place. "It's not off yet." He went to the front and applied the same tool to the collar. Once it was also glowing red hot he let go of her head and straightened the collar, effectively pulling it away from Cayenne. Once he had it he dropped the collar on an anvil and rushed to her aide.

Cayenne swallowed the whimper in her throat as her hand moved to gingerly touch the burnt skin on the back of her neck, her dark hair falling down her back. "My fault," she said. "I should have realized you hadn't moved it away."

"Lemme see." Mason said, moving close to her. Before she could say anything, he was already moving her hair gently out of the way and examining the burn. "It doesn't look too bad." A finger brushed it and Cayenne sucked her breath in through her teeth in pain. "Sorry." He apologized quickly.

"You're fine."

"I have some ointment if you want…" Mason's voice was close to her ear.

Cayenne pulled away. "Mason, no."

He looked at her and smiled weakly. "You can't blame me for trying, can you?"

"That was more than two years ago." Her voice was sharp. "I've moved on and it's in your best interest to do so too."

His face fell. "Yeah, I know." Mason turned around and picked up the collar, he walked over to the bin of scrap metal and tossed it in.

"Mason." Cayenne called and he turned around to face her. "I was always going to leave. You're not the type who would ever leave."

He frowned but didn't say anything, instead turning back to his work. "Be careful, Cayenne." His voice was flat, telling her he was used to her mysterious words and that he didn't have the heart to figure out the meaning behind them.

"Thank you." Cayenne said rather gratefully as she disappeared through the door to the front of the shop.

Once back in the cool, neck still stinging, she removed the ring from her finger and placed it on the counter. Mason could keep it if he wanted or he could melt it down for something else. She also removed her belt and set it down, she didn't know what he could do with it but she didn't really care. The important thing was that her person was rid of all metallic possessions.

Giving a scan of the room, she wasn't disappointed when she noticed that all the weapons were metal and that there weren't any wooden types there. She'd have to find a sword shop of some kind… or a woodworker.

In the silent room she voiced her appreciation to her old flame and dear friend, praying that he would be able to move on one day.

-x-

After some extensive searching, she managed to find an item she was looking for and Cayenne was leaving the shopping district and heading for the edge of the lawless zone where Luca's house was located. If Kidd had paid for her than there was a good chance that Law had as well and she intended to let Luca know.

If Luca had stayed in hiding like she had told her to, but even Cayenne couldn't control Luca (while Luca did heed her she didn't exactly follow everything she said.) The chances that Luca left her house were extremely high and getting into trouble were also high.

To her surprise, she came across a blonde sitting on a mangrove tree root with several scratches on her face, a black eye, and teeth marks on her arm. "Seesa?" She asked uncertainly.

Seesa looked at her and her lip curled in distaste. "Don't ask."

"The black eye I can get but the teeth marks and scratches?" Cayenne snorted. "I didn't think you'd be one to fight dirty."

"_I_ didn't start it!" Seesa snarled. "It was your stupid friend Luca who did!"

Cayenne sucked in a breath. "Luca? When?"

The blonde shrugged. "A few hours ago…"

Cayenne groaned, so Luca left her house? For once in her life, couldn't she have listened? "Thanks. My day just got _so_ much better." She stalked past Seesa.

"She was looking for you." Seesa said.

The brunette stopped and regarded the other woman. "What?"

Seesa shrugged. "She wanted to know if I had seen you, she seemed a little distracted too."

Something had happened to her. Did Law find her? "Thanks." Cayenne muttered as she quickly walked away from her, her thoughts now elsewhere.

"There's something else." Seesa called from behind her and Cayenne turned to face her. "One of my boys…" She hesitated. "Shot her."

_Shot her?_ "What?" Cayenne rounded on Seesa. "Where is she? What happened?"

"It wasn't fatal." Seesa said. "But she wandered away. Where, I don't know but I think she was in shock."

"_That's_ helpful." The brunette snapped. Her renowned patience was beginning to get a crack in it from Seesa's vague answers.

"You're lucky I'm telling you at all." Seesa replied. "I hate Luca with a passion but I still have my honor... that and I have a small ounce of respect for you."

She still stared at the blonde in suspicion and annoyance. "And you let one of your gang members shoot her?"

"I didn't tell him to!" Despite Seesa's claim of her eternal hatred for Cayenne's best friend there was a small amount of regret in her voice. "If I want to see Luca bleeding before me, it'll be by _my_ hand. No one else's."

Cayenne softened a bit. "Thank you for telling me." Just before she left to go on her way again. "I didn't know you respected me."

"I've seen you fight." Was her only answer and the blonde got up and walked away, saying no more.

So now Luca was wandering around shot, hopefully she had the sense to go see Tez or find a doctor. But her best bet would be to go to _The Sea King_ and hope that Tez had seen her.

-x-

"Tez!" Cayenne called loudly as she walked into the bar.

The said man looked towards the door and his eyes seemed to light up a bit at the sight of her. "Cayenne, where have you been?"

Cayenne settled herself at the bar, a ways away from listening ears and beckoned Tez over. "I had a little run-in with Kid."

"Kid?" Tez said, shocked.

She interrupted him. "Have you seen Luca?"

He nodded."Four hours ago she came here in a panic saying how Law was waiting for her when she came home."

"Wait, back up. Law was waiting for her this morning?"

"Well, she came into work claiming boredom but I sent her home after about an hour and not long after she came back." Tez said. "I told her to hide out in the shopping district and head for Shakky's bar."

"Shakky?" Cayenne tilted her head. "Why her?"

"Shakky would be strong enough to give her protection and even Rayleigh might be around."

Rayleigh… She hadn't seen him a long time, the last time might've been when Zia died but she couldn't be sure. Of course, Rayleigh probably had seen her more than she him and he even told her that he checked up on her from time to time. "Good idea."

He nodded. "It was a good thing you suggested to her that she should work here."

She laughed hollowly. "If by good idea you mean putting her under the protection of two legends without her knowing, then yes." She didn't like tricking Luca, even if it was for her own good. The less people knew about Rayleigh and Tez's former occupation, the better.

Cayenne briefly contemplated telling him about Luca's injury but if she hadn't come back to him after being shot then she wouldn't worry him by telling him now. After all that's happened she wouldn't be surprised if Tez went out himself to ensure her safety.

"I'm going to see Shakky now." Cayenne slid off her stool and left, giving Tez a curt nod and didn't look back to see his goodbye wave.

-x-

After her parents left her in the care of a former pirate by the name of Zia when she was almost two, she had met the famous pirate legend Silvers Rayleigh a couple of times. As she grew up, she learned about the relationship between him and several people from Roger's era. And she learned to keep quiet about them lest the marines take notice. That was why she never mentioned it to Luca. If any of them wanted to meet Luca they would go to her themselves. But none of them ever did.

_I'm sorry Luca. I know that it would be the final push for you if you knew that I knew Silvers Rayleigh._ Saying that she knew Rayleigh was a bit of a stretch, he knew more about her than she about him.

The sight of Shakky's bar at the top of the hill made her walk faster. Would Luca have come to the bar? "Shakky!" Cayenne stepped through the door, surveying the place.

The only person in the bar looked up. Her dark eyes widened with delight when she recognized the young girl who was raised by Zia. "Cayenne!" Shakky said as she walked around the bar and made her way over to her. "You've grown up, look at you!" After giving Cayenne a look over from head to toe she enveloped the woman in a hug. "You're the spitting image of your father, you know?" She said after they pulled apart.

"Thanks." Cayenne mumbled. She wasn't very keen to talk about her parents. The last time she had seen them, she was two. Would it have killed them to visit once in awhile?

"Except the hair." Shakky continued as she took a drag of her cigarette. "It's your mother's through and through."

"Shakky." Cayenne said. "Did Luca come here?"

She frowned. "Luca… that friend of yours? The bartender girl who works for Tez?"

"Yeah, did she or did she not come here? Tez said he sent her your way. She's a little shorter than me with brown eyes…" Here Cayenne hesitated, she had no idea if Luca's hair was still blue and purple, colored something natural looking, or dyed something else that was outrageous. "Most likely has odd colored hair."

Shakky thought for a moment and then shook her head. "No, no one's come by with that description."

Cayenne's heart sank, where was she? "Thanks, I've got to go now." At the end of that sentence her stomach growled loudly.

Shakky laughed. "Why don't you have something to eat and then stay the night?"

The brunette shook her head. "I need to find Luca. She's hurt and probably wandering around aimlessly."

"I see…" She took another drag. "How long have you been watching out for Luca?"

"Huh?" Cayenne asked blankly.

"According to Tez, Luca's always the one who would jump recklessly into fights and you've been the one to bail her out. There even was an incident regarding a World Noble. If it wasn't for you, Luca would have been dead or worse." Shakky smiled. "It's always been natural for the one with the level head to keep an eye on the reckless ones. Just ask Rayleigh about Red Hair and Red Nose."

"Yes, I've bailed Luca out of a lot of things." Cayenne admitted. "And I suggested she work for Tez to help her with her temper issues. But that doesn't resolve the issue of where she is."

"Come eat, Cayenne." Shakky took her gently by the arm and guided her to the counter, despite the young woman's protests. "Let me just tell you one thing Cayenne. Why don't you trust Luca to do what is best for herself, hmm?"

She gaped at her open mouthed, ever since Luca's temper issues arose, Cayenne took it upon herself to make sure Luca didn't get into any lasting trouble but it made her trust in Luca lack quite a bit. Even though Luca's temper got better and better she still considered herself to be a safety net of sorts for her best friend. _She's always looked to me for guidance too._ Cayenne realized. _I guess the well-being of the both of us were always on my shoulders. Maybe Luca knew that._

The almost-twenty-year-old closed her eyes and meditated for a bit. Despite that Luca was injured, she could feel that she was alive. But she still didn't know where; opening her eyes she gave Shakky a nod and a grin. "I could use something to eat." Cayenne admitted.

Shakky smiled. "That's the spirit."

After a hot meal, Shakky lead Cayenne into the back where some cots were set up. Two of the cots already had sleeping forms on them. The first was a large pink man with an elongated mouth. A fishman, she realized. He was heavily bandaged but was sleeping soundly.

On the other were two people, one was a young girl, younger than Luca, with green hair and a pink mermaid tail. She was the mermaid from the Auction House! Cayenne smiled, relieved that the poor girl was alright now and that she no longer had a collar around her neck. The mermaid's arms were around a yellow star fish and the both of them were in deep sleep.

Shakky's hand on Cayenne's shoulder made her jump. "Shh, best let them sleep." She whispered. "The past two days have been very trying for the three of them."

Cayenne nodded and silently made her way over to a cot and Shakky left for her own room. Though she had been knocked out for the majority of the day, the day's events caught up with her and the sound of bubbles popping outside and the deep breaths of the fishman lulled her into a deep sleep.

**Well, how was it? Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames are not.**


	4. Seeking Information

**First of all, I have to apologize with taking forever with this chapter. I had it almost done in the beginning of May but I was severely sidetracked. Here's a piece of advice for you High Schoolers, when you graduate you get very busy.**

**But hopefully I should be able to srill write whilst prepping for college (Woot!). Shall we proceed?**

**One Piece doesn't belong to me, I am not making money from this and I don't have any more so suing will get you nowhere.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

-x-

In the bliss of her peaceful, comfortable, and restful state she couldn't help but make out the whispers, inviting her to join the land of waking.

"I think I know who she is." A female voice was saying.

"Shakky said she's the daughter of some old friends." Someone else, a male this time, whispered back.

Cayenne's eyes fluttered open and two large, dark purple eyes appeared in front of her, starting at her quizzically. She blinked sleepily. "A little close, don't you think?"

The eyes backed away. "Sorry, but I recognize you from somewhere…"

Cayenne sat up and stretched, taking a good look at her watchers. The girl was the mermaid from before, her pink fins twitched nervously and she smiled at the brunette. "I'm Caimie," she said and gestured to the second person, the orange starfish with the funny hat. "This is Pappagg."

"Cayenne." Cayenne introduced herself to the two and then turned to Caimie and addressed her. "You're the mermaid from the Auction House"

Caimie's eyes widened. "I knew you looked familiar! You walked right past me!"

She nodded. "I'm glad that you were able to get out too."

"Hacchin and the others rescued me." She said, but her eyes darkened a bit. "But Hacchin was hurt and then Luffy-chin and the others…"

"Caimie…" Pappagg said mournfully and in an instant they had grabbed onto each and began to cry loudly.

"Umm." Cayenne said as she looked from one to the other awkwardly. "I'm… sorry?" It was too early for this. She didn't know how to handle a sobbing mermaid and starfish when she had just woken up.

"Caimie, Pappagg, that's enough crying. Give Cayenne some room." Someone reprimanded gently from the doorway.

The three occupants of the room looked up to see Shakky standing there with her hands on her hips and a small, exasperated but humorous smile on her face. "Okay." Caimie said as she stood up on her tail and hopped her way out of the room, Pappagg following her.

Cayenne stared in amazement. She had almost snorted at the sight of the mermaid hopping around but decided against it. But she followed suit and swung her legs out of bed, shivering slightly when the cold hair met her warm legs.

Out in the bar, Caimie was sitting on a stool chatting mildly with Pappagg who was sitting on the bar itself. Shakky was cooking something on the stove and Cayenne finally noticed the third person from last night. He was large and pink with an elongated mouth and had six arms but on his forehead she recognized the sun pirate's symbol. _One of Tiger's old crew, eh?_

She made her way over and greeted him. "Morning. I'm Cayenne."

Cayenne held out a hand and the fishman took it. "Hatchan. Hachi for short if you prefer."

"What happened to you?" She gestured to his wounds and bandages while she took her place at the bar next to Hachi.

The three denizens of Fishman Island went strangely quiet and Shakky broke it when she set a plate of eggs in front of them. "There was a small incident with a World Noble." She said simply.

Cayenne arched an eyebrow. "Define _small_."

"Hachi was shot and Monkey punched the World Noble clear across the room." Was the blunt answer.

That explained the chaos that happened almost right after Luca had been sold. But she couldn't help smile at the thought of a World Noble being sent flying across a room. He was one of the few people who would ever hurt a World Noble without care for the consequences. Monkey D. Luffy: the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, a supernova with the second highest bounty of three-hundred million (though Cayenne had reason to believe that it would surpass Kidd's soon, no doubt) and the craziest one of them all, so to speak. Honestly, it didn't surprise her that he punched one of the World Nobles.

She had read the papers. He attacked Enies Lobby for God's sake! And it was all to get back one of his crew members who had been captured. He had dedication, Cayenne could give him that. _I wonder if he's related to the Marine hero, Garp, at all._ She thought as she helped herself to some eggs. "So then it's true that Admiral Kizaru was really here?"

"Yup." Shakky went to the fridge and pulled out some milk. "I didn't see him but I recognized his handy work. Kuma was here as well."

"_Kuma_? As in the Pirate Warlord Kuma?"

"The one and the same." Shakky confirmed. "And it was thanks to him that Monkey and his crew was sent to different locations all around the world."

Cayenne blinked. It was always hard to get information on the infamous Pirate Warlords, especially when it's where one asked for said information. According to the World Government they were ridiculously strong and merciless but according to pirates they were nothing more than Government dogs and disgraces to the name pirate. "I'm assuming that he has a devil fruit ability?"

Shakky gave a nod and lit a cigarette and took a long drag, exhaling a stream of smoke she said, "He's a dangerous one. Rayleigh already saw what they're doing to him."

What did she mean by that? But by the way Shakky had turned away from them told Cayenne that she wouldn't elaborate on the topic.

"Do you think they're alright?" Caimie piped up worriedly as she pushed her eggs around on her plate.

"They'll be fine, Caimie." Pappagg reassured. "They're the Straw Hats!"

"Where is Rayleigh?" Cayenne asked about the one presence that was missing from the bar.

"Coating the Straw Hats' ship." Was the reply.

For the next few minutes there was silence throughout the bar. Hachi, Cayenne, Caimie, and Pappagg were eating their breakfast and Shakky was staring at nothing all the while taking drags from her cigarette.

"Nyuu, Cayenne." Hachi said and Cayenne turned to him. "How do you know Shakky and Rayleigh?"

"Oh…" Cayenne looked away and uncomfortably chewed on her lip. "My parents are old friends."

"Cayenne's parents left her in Zia's care." Shakky informed him. "And she used to come over to visit but not often enough." She smiled at the memories. "She was a cute kid back then."

"Zia?" Hachi perked up. "I didn't know she was living here."

"She died three years ago." Cayenne told him shortly.

Shakky took another drag. "To me, she always seemed like one who could withstand time." At the sight of Caimie and Pappagg's confused faces she began to explain. "Zia was one of my superiors when I was a pirate. She retired shortly before I did."

"So she was a pirate?" Caimie ventured.

"Mmhmm." The elder woman replied. "Zia was one of the pirates before Roger's time. In fact, Roger had been a pirate in training under Zia."

Caimie's jaw dropped, Pappagg's too, and Hachi dropped his fork. Cayenne almost choked on her eggs but managed to swallow. Coughing, she sputtered. "W-what? _Zia_ trained _Roger_?"

"For a short time," Shakky replied taking another drag. "Small world, huh Rayleigh?"

The four other occupants turned to the door to see an elderly man with silver-gray hair and an unusual beard standing there, drinking from a flask and a grin on his face.

"Reminiscing?" He asked joyfully as he moved to the bar. "A word of advice, don't do it all the time when you get older."

"Nyuu, Rayleigh!" Hachi said and hopped off his stool. The two shook hands and when they pulled apart, Rayleigh turned to Cayenne and looked her over.

"It's been too long, Cayenne! You've grown since last I saw you."

"And when would that have been?" Cayenne asked smoothly.

"And yet you look more and more like your father each time." He deflected her question and took a seat next to her.

"What is it with people and comparing me to my parents?" The brunette couldn't help but mutter. Frankly every time she ran into someone who knew her parents always told her about how much she looked like them. She barely even _knew_ what they looked like. The last time she had seen them was eighteen years ago!

"Ah, we old people can't help it." Rayleigh smiled and helped himself to some of her eggs, ignoring the eggs on the plate that Shakky had set down earlier.

"Who're you calling old?" Shakky countered him playfully as she moved over to the fridge again.

Now that Rayleigh had taken her breakfast and was shoveling that last of them into his mouth, Cayenne sighed and stood up. "Thank you for taking me in for the night and for breakfast." She told Shakky coolly. "I should be going."

"I'll walk you out." Rayleigh stood up abruptly, he and Shakky exchanging a look before Rayleigh went back to the door.

"It was nice meeting you." Cayenne told the three Fishman Island natives.

"It was good to meet you too!" Caimie replied cheerfully. "Come visit again, okay?"

"I'll try." Was all Cayenne said and she followed Rayleigh out of the bar but stopped when she remembered something. "Shakky."

"Hmm?" Shakky turned to her, a glass of water in her hand.

"What do you know about Trafalgar Law?"

The bar went strangely quiet. "Why do you ask?" Shakky replied as she took a sip of water.

"Reasons of my own." Cayenne dodged the question.

"Is this concerning your friend Luca?" By the way Cayenne had stiffened slightly and the smile on Shakky's face told the more observant members of the room the answer. "There's not much to tell. From the newspapers he's a merciless pirate, but they don't elaborate."

"That's helpful." The brunette muttered but raised her voice to ask another question. "What about his ship? What does it look like?"

"It's a submarine." Shakky shrugged. "Other than that I can't tell you much."

Law's ship was a submarine? She didn't even think the marines had those! _He's probably the only pirate to have a submarine for a ship._ Cayenne thought and returned to contemplating on how to find Law.

_There's no doubt that Luca's alive but Law has something to do with her disappearance. Jackass._ She thought bitterly, if she or Luca had ever thought of becoming pirates it wouldn't have been in _this_ way. "Let's go, then." She said to Rayleigh and they both left the bar.

Once outside, she regarded him coldly. "You were at the Auction House."

He took a drink from his flask. "So you noticed?"

"I walked right past you and I recognized that burst of "haki" of yours." She told him. Though she didn't know much about haki she had known he was responsible for it at the Auction House.

"That's a good ability to have." Rayleigh said suddenly.

"What?"

"Recognizing a person's haki, remember that. It may help you one day. Maybe you'll be able to measure one's spirit."

Cayenne frowned, perplexed. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." 

No matter how much she wanted to push him for information, she knew he wouldn't tell her. "You were the one to free the giant." Another statement.

"Correct." Taking another drink from the flask he told her. "I know what you want to say. You want to know why I didn't help you or Luca."

She opted not to reply to that, Rayleigh was good at reading her, which probably had something to do with being a seasoned pirate. Actually, all the people on the island who had come from Roger's era could read her well. It unnerved her. It was a solace to know that not many people could see what was going through her mind.

It was one of her comforts. The less people knew about her, the better she could play poker, so to speak. Any person who was strategic in any way knew that you could always get the upper hand when your opponent didn't know anything about you.

"First, I didn't want them catching onto who I was. I may be a legend but I'm an old man now. I can't fight as well as I used to. Second, pirate is in your blood Cayenne. I knew that sooner or later you would join a pirate crew. I decided to see what would happen."

"You couldn't have possibly known that Kid would be the one to buy me." Cayenne retorted. "You can't predict the future."

"You're right, I can't. But I do get feelings from time to time. I just let what would have happened play itself out." Rayleigh laughed.

"It's not funny." Cayenne grumbled. "No one should have to go through slavery, _ever_."

"But they made it out, didn't they?"

"Not all of them." She replied. "The Auction House isn't the only slave shop here."

"This is true." Rayleigh headed down the stairs, Cayenne following. "But alas, the only thing you can do about it is turn the other way or try and do something."

"Do something?"

"Try and put a stop to it. There are two ways to do it." Rayleigh explained, "A Celestial Dragon could do it or… a pirate could."

"You mean one of the four Pirate Emperors." Cayenne stated, one of them would have enough power to abolish something like that (look at what Whitebeard did for Fishman Island) but to do it on Sabaody… They would undoubtedly face the World Government with the World Nobles pulling at their leash. None of them would be willing to risk it for complete strangers. She just couldn't see any end to the viscous cycle.

"I do, but none of them would." He took a swig. "You can try but you won't get very far."

Cayenne could honestly say nothing more. She disliked slavery as much as anyone with common sense. But the fact that the World Government or the Marines did nothing about it was where her irritation laid. They were the so-called upholders of justice and protectors of the civilians but for some reason they were no longer innocent civilians when they became slaves.

"You've got a good heart Cayenne." Rayleigh said and he turned to her. "You just never let anyone in."

That was true, even Luca whom she considered to be her best friend didn't know everything about her. Luca was still under the assumption that she had lived here her entire life. "What good is it to dwell on the past?"

"You just don't want anyone to know who your parents are."

"Would you?" Cayenne countered. "Even now they're still considered a threat to the World Government and I barely know who they are."

The old man just shook his head sadly. "It's a shame really. Forcing the children to pay for the sins of their fathers."

"What?"

"Nothing, consider it the ramblings of an old man." He gave her a smile. "This is where I leave you Cayenne. I trust you'll be able to get home safely."

"Yeah…" She trailed off uncertainly and Rayleigh walked past her and headed to wherever he was headed.

Every meeting she had with him always left her with mixed feelings and this time was no different. But with no further thoughts, she headed for Grove Seventeen.

-x-

Her home was an apartment underneath a bar. It was fair sized, complete with a bathroom and kitchenette, and the pay was fair. The only setback was that she always had to listen to the gabber and fights from above. But other than that, it was fairly cozy. And she never had to deal with her landlord. They only time they had met face-to-face was when she had talked to him about the apartment. He just let her do what she wanted as long as she paid her rent on time.

She descended the steps quickly and slipped into the room, closing the door behind her. Inside, she couldn't help but drink in the tranquility of her place, it was here where she would be safe, hopefully.

Though she wanted to head right out again and look for Luca she decided to take a shower first. She felt icky, her hair was limp and greasy and the burns on her neck throbbed dully. And thus, she stepped into her shower and let the warm water cascade down her back.

It felt _good_ and she couldn't help but let out a sigh of content. There was nothing better to get a moment to yourself when your life was pretty much in danger. But no matter how long she wanted to stay in the warmth, she washed quickly and turned the water off.

She dried herself off and dressed herself in jeans and a simple t-shirt with cloud imprints and put on shoes that were better equipped for running around and fighting if the situation called for it. After making sure that her needed items were hidden safely on her person (and eating a better breakfast) she set out, locking the door securely behind her.

-x-

"Sorry sweet cheeks, I got nothing." The man at the bar laughed as he took another drink from his tankard, he leered at her. "Why don't you come over here and"-

"Thank you for your time." Cayenne stood up abruptly and walked off to another part of the bar. This was the third bar she'd visited while asking questions about the whereabouts of Trafalgar Law and none of them had seen nor heard anything entirely about the "Surgeon of Death."

"Hey come back here!" The man shouted after her. "We wanna buy you some drinks!"

She ignored him and the howls of laughter from his mates that accompanied their lecherous comments. Instead she slipped outside and sat down on a crate and thought about her next move.

There were only so many bars on the archipelago and only so many times she could ask about Law without rumors about her inquiries starting to spread around and then reaching him. If Law learned that someone was going around asking about him, her chances of finding Luca would go down to just barely above nil.

She could only do so much, and with such little information… Her stomach did a couple flips. The odds were not on her side.

Mentally, she reviewed all she knew about Law:

His head was worth two-hundred million beli.

His nicknames were "Surgeon of Death" and "Dark Doctor."

Apparently, he had a Devil Fruit ability that involved creating a sphere and doing anything he wanted with various objects in it. (Thank you bar number two.)

His ship was a submarine.

And what did that leave her with?

_Still_ having no idea where he was. Cayenne stood up and walked away. She'd try one more bar and then start aiming higher if bar number four yielded no results. The Marines were sure to have information she needed.

"Might I steal a moment of your time?"

Cayenne jerked from her reverie and she looked at a calm-looking man sitting on another crate. He had long blonde hair, a flowing white coat, and odd markings above his eyes. "And why would the "Magician" want my time?" She asked him coolly.

Basil Hawkins merely shuffled the cards in his hands while his crew members fidgeted, clearly wondering why their captain would want to talk to a total stranger like her.

"You're searching for someone, a dear friend." He stated and began to place the cards face up in _mid air._ "Probability of gaining useful information… eight percent." He placed his finger on another card. "Probability of getting information from the Marines… three percent."

Cayenne raised an eyebrow, how in the hell did he know this? "And you can possibly think your cards can tell me the future?" One of the things she disliked most in the world were psychics. No one could tell the future, it was just absurd. There were too many factors. It was impossible to determine something that would happen later on when another action could easily interfere.

He ignored her. "Probability of running into those you are running from… eighty-seven percent." Hawkins selected another card. "Probability of—"

"Enough," Cayenne interrupted. "I don't have time for this shit."

"You little—!" One of his crew members snarled, his hand going to a sword strapped to his belt.

His captain merely held out a hand, halting him. "Today is not a day for that." Once his subordinate's hand left the hilt of his sword Hawkins turned his eyes back to Cayenne. "You do not have a tolerance for this?"

She snorted. "It's impossible to tell the future."

"But I'm not telling the future, I'm merely calculating your odds." The man returned to his cards once more. "Probability of using the weapon concealed on your person today… two percent."

Cayenne was silent. He _was_ calculating odds, telling her what the chances were for select choices she might make. But she had never seen someone do their calculations by way of cards. "Calculating isn't something a magician would do."

"Do I control what the Marines name me?" He answered back in a monotonous tone and chose another card. "Probability of seeing your friend whilst on this island… zero percent."

"Am I supposed to believe these numbers that you're telling me?" She almost whispered. Was he telling her that she wouldn't be able to find Luca? Hell, was Law still here in Sabaody?

Was Luca… gone?

"Not necessarily," Hawkins was saying as he took the cards back into his hand. "I just gave you the odds, it's your choice on how to proceed from here." He shuffled the cards nonchalantly.

"Then why even tell me in the first place?" She inquired. She had never met him before and he had no obligation to tell her anything.

"Your odds were mixed, some in your favor but others were not." Hawkins said. "The look in your eye told me that you were searching for someone and was determined not to give up. I decided to give you a helping hand."

_Some helping hand that was. For all I know that was just a bunch of hocus pocus._ She turned to leave but Hawkins's next words made her stop.

"A determination that was oddly familiar in a certain wanted poster I had seen long ago… The Destroyer, perhaps?"

"I wouldn't know." She replied back calmly and then walked off, leaving the captain of the Hawkins pirates sitting there stoically and his crew members staring after her quizzically.

_What is it with people today? Seasoned pirates sure, but a rookie? Never mind that he's a Supernova._ Cayenne groaned. "Today has been a very weird day."

-x-

Later, back inside her apartment, she couldn't help but think about Hawkins' predictions. The fourth bar had nothing useful either and his words kept echoing inside her head as she lingered by the groves containing the Marine headquarters. In the end, she turned around and went home.

Was there a chance that Hawkins was right? She had counted on finding information in bars too much. She should have expected Law to elusive.

So what should she do now? Cayenne stared up at the ceiling, the muffled voices from above floated down to her. _I'm supposed to be helping her… Luca's not the type to be able to sneak her way out of something, she would just try fighting her way out._ Of course, it was that that always got her in trouble.

-x-

"_Jesus, Luca! What the hell were you thinking?" A sixteen year old Cayenne demanded, standing in front of Luca with her arms crossed over her chest._

_Luca glared at the corner, her chin length hair (dyed bright orange) was mussed up from being dragged through three groves._

"_Don't ignore me!" Cayenne growled. "That was a _World Noble_ you almost attacked. Do you know what would have happened?"_

"_I didn't _almost_ attack him!" Luca defended her brown eyes snapping up to Cayenne's teal ones. "I didn't even know he was there until…"_

"_You nearly punched him."_

"_But I didn't, did I?"_

"_Luca…" Cayenne groaned. "I don't care if you decide to jump headfirst into any fight you come upon but for the love of god, would it kill you to keep an eye on your surroundings? I mean, you were still going at it when the World Noble walked right up to you. And what do you do? Turn around and come _this close_ to socking him in the face."_

"_I thought it was another brawler." Luca muttered sullenly. "You know I wouldn't have done it."_

_Cayenne softened a bit. "I know, Luca. You're lucky I moved fast and got you out of there before the shit really hit the fan." Right before Luca's fist had met the World Noble's face Cayenne had ran in there and dragged Luca out promptly._

"_I'm sorry." Luca said._

"_Hey, don't get that look on your face." She smiled. "You moved too fast for him to even see your face but I think you should change your hair color soon."_

"_Yeah…" She muttered. Cayenne turned away but Luca spoke quietly. "I hate them."_

-x-

It was only after that event that Cayenne decided that Tez might have been able to help her with the temper problems and give her some form of protection.

_Now is not the time for reminiscing._ She scolded herself and sat up. Luca was still her best friend and needed her to bail her out, _again._ Hopefully.

Cayenne reached under her bed and pulled out a map of the archipelago. She made marks on the map, identifying the bars and then started on a time table for the ideal times she should go to each bar. She wanted a time that would have more people but not when there were too many. So that made noon a no go.

Next to the times she should go to each bar, she made a note of how long she should stay away before going back for more info. She couldn't make it too long because that would make her lose precious time.

_Ace's execution is taking place at the end of the week. And just today they announced in the newspaper that they would be broadcasting the execution here in Sabaody. Everyone will be coming here to watch not only the execution but the war with Whitebeard as well._ She would bet everything she owned that Law would be staying on the archipelago as well. Any pirate would be insane to leave, they would watch history being made.

That gave her a week to find Luca. She could prove to Hawkins that she was capable of finding Luca. Never seeing Luca on the island indeed.

But she still had to hurry.

-x-

Over the next two days Cayenne fell into a routine. Get up, eat, shower, dress and then head out and go to a few bars throughout the day. Sometimes she would ask people if they knew anything about Law but most of the time she was content to sit at the bar, nurse a few drinks, and listen to the talk all around her.

Pirates, after all, loved to gossip. But all she heard earlier was talk about Admiral Kizaru when he came to the archipelago after Monkey D. Luffy sent Saint Charlos flying. And she also learned a couple random facts about some of the Supernovas who were seen fighting not only Kizaru but the Warlord Kuma as well.

It still didn't make her job any less boring. She heard enough about the attack to know what happened and didn't need to hear anymore. But now, the talk turned to Ace's upcoming execution and how Whitebeard will retaliate.

"He's the strongest pirate in the world!"

"Personally, I would run as far away as I could if I ever went against a Whitebeard pirate! Whitebeard himself is merciless when dealing with anyone who goes against his crew."

"The World Government can't run..."

Cayenne tuned them out. Another thing she didn't want to hear about. It was all just speculation. She downed the rest of her drink, tossed some money on the counter, and left the bar.

She kept her head down, refusing to look anyone in the eye or draw attention to herself in case Kid was looking for her or if Killer was looking to repay her for day when she escaped. She didn't want to experience how he got the nickname "Massacre Man."

She entered another bar but this time she headed straight to a corner and sat down. In another part of the bar a man wearing a pink coat (at least it looked pink in the dim light) and freakishly long arms sat drinking beer.

Great, another Supernova. _Ignore him, Cayenne. You have other important things to worry about._ She rested her cheek on her fist and scanned the bar, looking for someone else who at least looked intelligent.

Yet all around her all she could hear was jabber about Whitebeard and Ace's upcoming execution. _This is futile, Cayenne…_ A voice whispered in the back of her mind. Though she tried to ignore it, her heart sank a bit. In some sense, the disembodied voice was right.

"You've been a hard woman to find these past several days." Cayenne looked out of the corner of her eye to see her new tablemate. He was short and beef with hardly any neck, and was currently staring at her with his beady eyes.

"That was the point." She replied softly and kept her eyes on the rest of the bar. The man cleared his throat, obviously irritated that she wasn't giving him her full attention. "What do you want, Gusty?"

Gusty was a leader of one of the gangs, Hell Hounds (one of Seesa's rivals.) He was a former pirate who made a name for himself here using the nickname the Marines gave him.

"I need to you find a slaver group for me." He stated, trying to take advantage of her not paying attention to him and checking out her chest.

"Not interested." Cayenne said and realigned herself in order she shield her upper body from the letch.

"Not interested?" He repeated dumbly. "I thought that's how you lived? Finding things for others."

"I'm on another job right now." 

"How much are they paying you? I'll triple it."

"Still not interested."

"Come on Cayenne!" Gusty slammed the table with his fist. "I need your help, dammit! They took one of my underlings."

"Is that my problem?"

"No one on this godforsaken archipelago is good at finding things like you are." Gusty growled.

"Find someone else. _I'm not interested_." Cayenne shot back and she stood up, dwarfing his tiny size. "I'm busy with something that needs my full attention." And with those words she turned on her heel and strode out of the bar, leaving the man at the table staring at her in shock.

-x-

Back outside, Cayenne took a couple of calming breaths, trying to soothe the irritation she felt at Gusty. This entire ordeal was making her nerves fry and was bringing on a migraine. _I'm only twenty and I feel like my hair is graying already._ She massaged her temples and walked away from the bar.

How come all the Supernovas were practically enigmas? It was downright irritating that she knew next to nothing about any of them. The general information was the same for all of them: Name, nickname, and bounty. _Would it kill the newspapers to elaborate on the other pirates instead of Monkey D. Luffy?_

She was tired, her eyelids felt heavy and all she wanted was to go home and sleep. The past two days had been extremely tedious and it was getting to her. Usually anyone else she looked for information on had given her some results by now but she still had nothing.

Cayenne yawned, for now she would go home and nap. She wouldn't be helping anyone by walking around dead on her feet. But just as she was about to turn to head in the direction of her home, she tensed when she heard the faint sound of something whizzing through the air.

She turned sharply and was just in time to watch a spinning blade fly by, mere inches from her nose. Using her momentum, she did a back flip and faced her opponent when she righted herself.

Killer was standing directly in front of her, blades spinning. When did he see her, actually more importantly, how long was he following her?

"Hello again." Cayenne sort of smiled at him, adrenaline pumping (she felt wide awake now.) "Fancy seeing you here."

He didn't reply only lunged again, forcing her to dodge him. There was no doubt that this battle would go differently than the last time they fought. He had underestimated her last time and this time he would be going all out.

"I really don't see the point in this unless eight-hundred and forty-thousand beri is a bit much for your crew." She said. And once again, she was met with silence except for the sound of his bladees. "Okay then." She shrugged and then ran towards him.

He reacted just as she managed to close the gap between them but before he was able to take a swipe at her Cayenne reached into her pocket, adrenaline running, and grasped three metallic rods in her hand. In an instant she had pulled it out, connecting the three rods to form a staff, and used it to block his blade.

Sparks emanated from both weapons and then the two split, landing almost seven feet away from each other.

"Gaah, a fight!" Someone was screaming as people raced to get away from the two quarrelers.

_This isn't the place to fight._ She thought as she moved into an attack position, casually spinning her staff in her hand. _But he's not giving me much choice._ She regarded him and knew he wasn't letting her get away this time. "I'm not going to go easy on you." She warned.

"Don't think I will either." Killer responded.

And once again they lunged for each other. Killer was using both blades to attack her front while she defended herself from both, looking for an opening in his attacks. _There!_ His left knee was open and she took it, aiming a direct hit.

She had almost gotten him when his left hand came down and his right came up, forcing her to block again. _He's good. I need to get behind him. I won't be able to do anything else while I'm on the defensive._ Cayenne slide the staff away from the blades and feinted a hit to his right and then slammed the staff into the ground and used it to hold herself up as she launched a kick at his masked face.

Her foot connected and he went stumbling back. Grabbing the staff and yanking it out of the ground she pole vaulted over him and landed a barrage of attacks and hits. She was now on the offensive. _If I can back him into a corner then I can make a getaway._ She thought determinedly and continued her onslaught.

Something was off, way off. He wasn't trying to regain the upper hand. Was he waiting her out? _He knows something… ON THE RIGHT! _She stiffened and then dove to the ground just as something flew over her.

Or multiple objects flew over her. Swords, muskets, and various other items crashed into a building nearby and then fell down into a heap.

_There goes the neighborhood._ She thought upon the recovery from the shock and stood up. Kid was standing not too far away from her and Killer, a look of intense anger etched on his face.

"Is there really a point to all this?" Cayenne asked him. "What on earth could you want with me?"

The red head opted not to say anything and just lifted a hand and Cayenne was surrounded by many flying metal objects. "Attract." Kidd growled aiming his open hand at the staff in her hands.

She smirked as she watched the rest of the metal go flying towards him and her staff remained in her hands, it didn't even budge. Cayenne twirled it and slammed it into the ground, enjoying the stunned look on Kid's face. _I wonder how many times he wore that expression on his face._ "Lead…" She drawled. "Is a non-ferrous metal."

Personally, she would have rather gotten a seastone weapon but finding a blacksmith who could manipulate it or even obtain the mineral was rare. Vegapunk wasn't the only one who knew how to create seastone into useful items. Mason's former Master was capable of crafting multiple weapons using seastone.

But even though her staff was immune to Kid's devil fruit powers, it didn't stop either of them from attacking her. Killer leapt at her again while Kidd merely stood back and flicked random items at her in order to knock her off balance.

It all became a routine: block, dodge, block, dodge, and so on. But even so, she knew the dangers of falling into a routine, you become so accustomed to it that you will eventually make mistakes when something new made its way in there. But neither Kid nor Killer was allowing her to break it. So she was stuck dodging and blocking them both.

She was almost knocked off her feet when something managed to connect with her head but she stumbled. Something wet welled on her head and slowly dribbled down, a small gash, nothing too serious. Cayenne attempted to shake it off and return to the battle but several more objects battered down on her body and she was forced to her knees. When more objects flew at her, she placed a hand on the ground in order to steady herself better.

_Get up Cayenne. This is just where they want you._ As she made her return up something much heavier hit her and she went down completely. Through her hazy vision she saw Kid's red hair and then there was pain flaring up through her skull. He had a fist full of her hair and was now dragging her along the ground.

Along with her small head wound, the pulling made her head spin. "Hey, stop it!" She couldn't help but squeal out. Her feet stumbled and trailed almost helplessly as she tried to regain her footing in order to lessen the pain in her skull. Eventually she managed to gain some of her footing but due to the height difference she was stuck walking/almost dragging behind Kid, her body bent at an odd and uncomfortable angle.

All the while Killer was walking calmly and silently behind his captain and her.

_Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!_ Cayenne was trying to wrench her hair out of his grasp but wasn't having much luck. All she could do was stumble behind him and hope that he would let go and soon.

-x-

Kid's crew members looked up in interest when Kid finally returned and most of them raised eyebrows at the sight of their Captain pulling his slave by the hair followed by a silent Killer. "Guess he found her." One drawled to the other.

"I suppose." He murmured back.

Kid ignored them and disappeared into his quarters, taking the girl with him, and Killer vanished below deck.

-x-

Once the doors to his quarters were closed, Kid locked it and finally let go of Cayenne. She instantly backed away, massaging her poor head, and then finally looked at him, a quiet fury in her eyes. "_That_ was unnecessary." She hissed at him.

He stared back, equally furious. "You were stupid enough to think that you could have gotten away."

"You were equally as stupid to think that someone would willingly be a slave!" She shot back. "Why in the hell did you pick me?"

Kid's chest rumbled and then he openly laughed, Cayenne only stared at him slightly confused and still angrily. "I had only wanted to see first-hand how fucked up this place was and imagine my surprise when you come out on that stage acting like everything was alright." He moved closer to her. "I'm interested to know what kind of person has no care in the world when people are bidding on their life."

This caught Cayenne off guard. He had bought her because of her nonchalance whilst being auctioned off? True, while she was standing on the stage, she had never been more terrified than she could ever remember but she forced herself to look calm. She couldn't have appeared weak in front of all those people. If she did then she would have truly become a slave, an object for trade and work, nothing more.

"I-I was being strong for those also being sold." She admitted.

He barked out another laugh. "Unlikely." Kidd leered at her and grinned. "I'll bet you were only thinking about _yourself_ at that time."

His statement stung Cayenne but she sneered back. "Oh? How about _you_ get caught and sold and see how you like it?"

"Nah. They'd never catch me." Kidd snorted at the thought. He made his way over to the wall and leaned against it, still watching Cayenne.

"I don't see why you care about what's going through my mind." Cayenne said. "You're the type who rarely gives a shit about anyone else."

He clapped, mocking her. "Very good. You're right, I don't."

"Then why did you buy me?" She demanded again.

"I told you." Kidd replied. "I had no preference, only someone who seemed interesting."

She was getting nowhere and was starting to see that she would have no choice but to accept what he was saying. But an idea dawned on her. "You could have just asked. The whole fight and everything was unnecessary."

This time Kidd was caught off guard. "What?"

She smiled sweetly at him, she had him. "If you wanted me in your crew you could have just asked or do you press-gang everyone into the crew?"

Kidd's jaw fell open and Cayenne had to resist laughing at the look on the man with the highest bounty's face. He looked absolutely ridiculous. "What makes you say that I _want_ you in my crew?"

"Why else would you buy someone interesting?" She said and moved closer to him. "So, what say you, _Captain_? You went through an awful lot of trouble finding me."

-x-

His mouth opened and closed a few times but he stared at her and then his eyes raked across her body. She wasn't too bad of a looker and when he watched her fight against Killer he knew she was a good fighter, smart too. Instead of answering her, he grabbed her arm and then unlocked his doors, violently forcing them open.

"Hey!" He bellowed and those on deck turned to look at their captain. Kid jerked Cayenne forward to be recognized and let go of her arm. He gestured to her, "We have a new crew member."

-x-

"Cayenne." She surveyed them all and briefly smirked. Her plan had worked.

The crewmates looked bewilderingly at each other and then at their captain who was already turning to go back into his room. "I won't forget this." He hissed in Cayenne's ear.

"I'm sure you won't." She taunted back. It was possible that Kidd had planned to recruit her all along but he most definitely didn't plan on _her_ proposing the idea to him before he did.

But now she didn't care, she was a pirate and subsequently had her ticket off the archipelago.

-x-

_Did I drink something funny?_ Her head felt heavy and her tongue was dry and fuzzy. Where was she?

Luca's heavy eyelids slowly fluttered open until she fully regained consciousness. She sat up and looked around hazily. The room seemed to be some sort of infirmary. There were more beds and shelves with bottles and assorted medical tools. _Where… is this?_

As she moved to get out of the bed, everything came back. _Oh yeah… Law drugged me, so is this his ship?_ _That fucker._ Luca stood up and a feeling of nausea swept over her. Immediately she went over to one of the bins that was near the bed and held her head over it as the dry heaves wracked through her. Thankfully, her stomach decided not to empty whatever was left in there (presumably bile) and she pulled back, still feeling slightly sick.

"That's probably some of the after affects." Luca whirled around to see Law leaning against the doorway. How in the hell did he open the door without her noticing?

But seeing him there, standing there calmly with that smug little smile of his made Luca's blood boil. "_You._" She spat venomously and she stomped over to him. "How _dare_ you!"

He merely raised an eyebrow. "Dare what?"

"_Kidnap me!_" She shrieked. "I told you, I told you that you didn't own me! I don't care if you paid eight-hundred thousand beli! _I am not your property!_"

"You're too loud." Was all he said.

"_I'm too loud? Of course I'm being loud! I'm furious!_" She shouted back. "Was there even a goddamn point? Why in the four blues did you even buy me?"

Law shrugged. "I felt like it."

And that's when Luca completely lost it, "_You felt like it? _What the hell? I am a goddamn person not an object that can be sold and bought whenever!" Her fist clenched, she _really_ wanted to punch him. As fast as she could, she aimed an open-palm slap at his face.

Even faster that she could see, he grabbed her wrist in a painful grasp. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He warned dangerously.

"Go to hell." She snarled.

He tilted his head questioningly at her. "Join my crew."

That snapped Luca out of her rage and she looked at him in shock. "What?"

"Simple. Join my crew." Law said again and released her wrist.

"No." She wouldn't be forced into a crew, especially when the Captain had just made his way to the top of her _People I want to kill_ list.

"You really don't have much of a choice." He stated. "You're on my ship and I did buy you."

"And I said, _no_." She replied back with as much venom she could fuel from her rage.

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "hmmm… And I say no to your no." And with that, he backed out of the room and shut the door. A clicking sound told her that he locked it.

"Hey! _YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!_" Luca screamed as loudly as she could when she attempted to open the locked door. And then she punched the door. Through her rage and the adrenaline she couldn't feel the effects of punching the door but once everything wore off, she would.

Luca returned to the bed and sat on it, everything seemingly welling up in her chest, the rage, the frustration, and the worry. She felt like crying, almost like a young child in the middle of a temper tantrum.

Once again in her life, she was at a loss. And she didn't know what she was going to do.

-x-

**Annnd chapter four is done! Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome, flames are not.**

**P.S. Did anyone catch the (unintentional) PotC quote?**


	5. The War Part I

**I'm sorry for taking such a long time to get this out, parts of this was hard for me to write. And once again, Oda had thrown a wrench in my plans thanks to chapter 595. But anyway, who else is ready for a Strawhat reunion! I know I am!**

**Everything that you recognize from **_One Piece_** belongs to Eiichiro Oda and everything that you don't recognize belongs to me, namely Cayenne and Luca.**

**Sorry, it's a short chapter.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

"You could at least talk more. It's weird just to have you stand there silently while I pack." Cayenne mockingly complained to the only person in her house. Well, her former house. The day after Kid begrudgingly accepted her into the crew, she told him she wanted to return to her house in order to pack up her belongings and inform her landlord that she wouldn't be returning.

She was actually amazed when Kid allowed it but sent Killer with her, who was currently inside the house, and the tall man with black hair (named Wire) and he was standing outside the door. _I wonder if he thinks I'm going to run again._ She thought bemusedly. Why would she run when she could finally get out of this place? It was something she had yearned to do for years.

The only thing that held her back was the question that had been nagging at her for the past three days: Where was Luca? There was no doubt that she was with Law but was she okay? _Maybe Hawkins was right and I won't see her here._ Cayenne thought a bit sadly. Perhaps they would meet up in the New World one day.

All her clothes were already packed away and she was currently pulling everything else out of their respective places and scattering them on her bed and table. Killer walked over in interest and picked up some of the items until Cayenne hefted a large metal box from under her bed and placed it on her bed. The masked man ambled his way over as Cayenne undid the clasps and flipped it open.

There were several weapons there: staffs of different sizes, some swords, a couple guns, and what appeared to be a pair of sticks. Although Cayenne couldn't see his face, his confusion wafted through the air and lingered in the room. "I used to walk around heavily armed a couple years back." She explained. "I found out, though, that being armed invites the worst sort of trouble."

It was better to look unarmed and weak and then surprising the enemy than just inviting them to ambush you. She plucked out some staffs (Kid had her lead one and wasn't giving it back) and tossed a couple onto a crate containing her clothes. She held onto one and with a sharp twist in the middle of the staff the two sides immediately shrank, forming it into a small metal rod no longer than her forearm.

She slid it in her pocket, it was bulky and stuck out but it would do. Besides, she seriously doubted that anyone would try and attack them while Killer was with her. Cayenne snapped the case shut and then stood up and disappeared into the bathroom. She reemerged with an armful of hygiene and feminine products and tossed them into their own crate.

"That's it." She said to the silent man in the room. She didn't need anything else. Her landlord could toss it or take it. It didn't matter to her. She lifted up one of the crates and turned to see that Killer had already picked up the other two which were all filled with clothes, shoes, and accessories. He nudged the slightly-open-door open with his foot and strode out, startling his crewmate standing outside.

Killer strode up the steps and Cayenne trudged out of the door next but she set her crate down on the ground and turned back to the door. She closed it and then took out the note she had written earlier, it was just explaining to her landlord that she had moved out and he could help himself to what was ever left. He'd discover it when she didn't pay rent and then come down to collect. Before picking up her crate, she also tucked her only key in crevasse of the door along with the note.

"Let's go." She said to Wire and they both ascended the steps, following Killer.

-x-

Law couldn't help but smirk from his place outside the infirmary door. He could hear his new albeit unwilling crew member pacing within and uttering curses every so often. She hadn't come out of the infirmary for the past two days due to her trying to kill Law every time he walked into the room (he had the foresight to remove all sharp and dangerous objects before she had woken up) but she couldn't do much damage with a pillow.

But the constant yelling, attacks, and swearing were starting to grate on his nerves. He knew she would have been difficult to get along with in the beginning but shouldn't she be accepting reality by now?

Instead of walking into the room, though, Law merely walked away to look for a specific member of his crew. He found him not too far from the deck of the sub. "Bepo."

The large polar bear that stood on two feet and wore an orange jumpsuit snapped to attention. "Captain?"

"I want you to give Luca her meal today." Law simply told him and then beckoned Bepo to follow him to the galley.

"Why me?" Bepo asked as they trudged down the hall.

"She should meet her new crew members." Law replied. He knew she'd be sick and tired of seeing Law all the time and while the _attempts_ to kill him were rather amusing he wanted his infirmary back.

-x-

Bepo nervously shifted from one paw to the other, the entire crew had heard many of her threats against Law because she tended to scream them whenever Law left the room after delivering food. If any of their adventures on the Grand Line told them anything, it was that women were scary when they were mad.

And the only woman on their ship was on a continuous rampage. "Do I have to?" He whined to his Captain.

"It's an order." Law replied calmly as he handed Bepo a tray with various fruits, a glass filled with water, and the key to the infirmary on it.

Bepo took it and then shuffled towards the infirmary, his paws shaking and the water sloshed over the rim of the glass a little. He could do this. He was a polar bear after all! He could pass as a cute and cuddly bear, couldn't he?

The large bear stood in front of the infirmary and shakily entered the key into the lock. The door opened with a _click_ and Bepo walked in.

"LAW, YOU ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH!" The newest crewmate started screeching the moment the door opened. She was currently standing on top of a bed armed with a pillow as a weapon. Already she was bouncing and preparing to take a leap off the bed and _then_ she realized that the person in the room was _not_ Law, but a large polar bear that was standing on two legs.

"A bear!" She shrieked and then her foot slipped. She fell off the bed and landed on the floor. But she just sat there and stared at Bepo once she recovered from the fall.

"I brought food." Bepo said lamely, holding up the tray for her to see.

She just continued to sit there on the floor, staring up at Bepo, mouth opening and closing. "Y-you-you're a _bear_!"

"I'm sorry." Bepo's head hung down in shame.

"A _talking bear_!"

The poor bear sniffled and set the tray down, why was that everyone had the same reaction when they saw him? Was it so hard to believe that talking bears could exist? "I'm sorry." The bear said again.

This time, her mouth closed and she stood up. "Why do you keeping apologizing?" Her brown eyes moved up and down, surveying Bepo.

"Everyone has the same reaction." Bepo mumbled.

"Oh." Luca guiltily directed her attention from the bear to the tray of food sitting on the edge of the bed. Her stomach growled lowly, reminding her that she was hungry. She sat on the bed, cross-legged, picked up a pear and bit into it. "I must say." She said in between bites. "That you're a fresh a breath air especially since the only other person I've seen here is," she scowled, "Law."

Bepo frowned slightly at her obvious dislike for their captain. He wanted to say something along the lines that Law was now her captain too and that she should treat him better but as he watched her bite into the pear with such vigor, he found he didn't have the courage to.

He wondered if Law had ever gotten her to eat quietly. Whenever Law went in there, she would scream so loud that some of the walls would actually shake.

"I never caught your name." Bepo jumped out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the girl staring at him.

"Bepo." He murmured.

To his surprise, she smiled. "Nice to meet you Bepo. I'm Luca."

"Hi." Was all he said and then she moved. Luca got off the bed and walked over to him. Standing on the tips of her toes, she reached up and _petted_ him behind his ear.

"It's so soft." She sounded almost giddy with happiness, like a six year old that had just gotten a new pet kitten. Or bear, in Bepo's case.

"Er, thank you?"

-x-

Luca couldn't help but giggle at this sight of his confused face. Maybe… her new predicament wasn't so bad. Hell, one of the crewmates was a walking, talking polar bear! _Who has _very _soft fur._

Wait a minute, what the hell was she saying? Even if she had a talking bear for a crewmate, she still hated Law. _With a burning passion!_ She silently added. …But, she wasn't stupid. Law wasn't going to let her out soon unless she agreed to join the crew. _And what's to stop him from sailing off now? I'd be stuck._ She thought gloomily.

It was time to swallow her pride. "Hey Bepo?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you—could you tell Law that I'm ready to come out now?" She avoided making eye contact with him. Already, just telling Bepo that she wanted to see Law was painful enough. _And knowing Law, he's going to enjoy every minute of this._

"Sure." The bear's mood lifted and patted her shoulder before leaving the room, locking the door as he went.

Luca let out a heavy sigh. What had she gotten herself into?

-x-

"So, you finally decided to join?" Law smirked from his place against the wall, Bepo on his right as he stared down at Luca.

Luca could only glare back in anger, she _knew_ it. He was enjoying this, immensely. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Law only smirked a bit wider but before he could say anything more, Luca interrupted him. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't like you. But since you aren't giving _me_ any choice, I'll accept your offer."

"I wasn't really offering it. It was already a done deal." He told her. Before she could retort with a scathing reply he said, "welcome to the crew, Luca."

So that was it, it was a done deal. Luca was officially part of the Heart Pirates. Even with this new piece of information floating around her head, she could only ask one thing:

"Can I have a shower now?"

-x-

She should have known this was coming. The moment she stepped into the room, she should have known but she just _had _to hope. Cayenne groaned silently to herself, amid the crates filled with her stuff as she examined the room around her as the truth grated on her more and more.

There were no female quarters on Kid's ship. In other words, she was stuck sleeping in the same room as all the men. _This sucks._ She thought as she stared at the only unclaimed corner of the room. It was the farthest corner away from the ladder leading to the upper deck and had a decent amount of space was between her and the next person over.

But what irked her even more was that her bed was a hammock. The idea of trying to sleep at night in a bed that would sway with the rocking of the ship was enough to make her stomach blanch. Cayenne glanced around. Some of the crewmates had regular beds while some had hammocks like her, and some even had those futons on the ground. She supposed that once she got enough money she would be able to buy her own bed. It seemed that's what the others did.

Ever since she had arrived on the ship she avoided this room like the plague, trying to avoid the unavoidable truth (last night she had actually slept on the deck). Of course last night, several of her new crewmates had come back from a bar pretty drunk and discovered her there. Naturally in their drunken state they leered at her and called her names until they decided that 'hey, she's the newest member and a woman. Let's teach her her place.'

And that was when Cayenne decided it was time to teach the men around her that yes, she may be a woman but under no circumstances would she be underestimated. And that incident was what prompted her to move into the sleeping quarters.

"Aah, er, Cayenne?" She glanced to her right to see one of them who tried to accost her last night standing there, rubbing his head as he smiled awkwardly. "Do you need any help?"

Since last night, those crewmates had taken it upon themselves to warn everyone else that their only female member of the Kid pirates had a nasty right hook. They stayed out of her way but would always watch her whenever she walked by. "I'm fine." She said, as she knelt down and pulled a couple large sheets out of one of the crates.

"What's that for?" He hesitantly asked.

"Do you honestly think I'm going to sleep out in the open like this?" She retorted coolly. If she had to sleep in here with all the men then dammit she was going to give herself some privacy!

"Oh." He realized what she meant and watched her hang up the sheets so they squared off around her space, creating a makeshift room for herself.

Cayenne started to unpack all of her stuff out of the crates, except for her clothes. She didn't have a dresser so the crates would have to do for now. _Another thing to buy, seriously how in the world can these guys live like this?_ Well, at least they had clean bathrooms. (Unfortunately, she had to share those too. Most likely Kid's idea of a cruel, cruel joke.)

Oh well, at least she had leaving Sabaody Archipelago forever to look forward to, right?

-x-

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen this place so packed before." Cayenne remarked from her place above all the spectators. It seemed like everyone had come to the only place where the execution would be broadcasted. There were reporters everywhere, mixed in with the civilians and pirates. The Nobles had their own seating section and were placed in stands above, though some pirates had commandeered their own sections up there as well.

Cayenne looked over the crowd below and over at some of the people who had their own sections above as well, hoping to see Luca's familiar face but she didn't. She sighed, there were too many people. Instead, she directed her attention the large screen that was showing Marineford. The den-den mushi camera was spanning around, showing the marines as they prepared for the inevitable fight.

"Three hours." Cayenne mumbled, three hours until they execute Ace. But the question was: when would Whitebeard appear?

-x-

_It might sound bad, but I wish this would hurry up._ Luca stared at the giant screen, bored. All they had seen all morning were the stupid marines running around making sure their security was airtight. _If I had known that this was all we were going to get, I would've come later._

Actually, if she didn't go when Law and co. went, she was sure he would have locked her in a room again. Ever since she had accepted his "offer" she had been on her best behavior but at the same time gave her new "captain" a wide berth and also gave him discreet glares from time to time.

There only was one time after 'joining' when she almost lost it again. She had found out that during her time locked in the infirmary he had taken the liberty and went to her house and brought over most of her stuff to the ship. In fact, he had already moved it all into a spare room on the sub. Oh yeah, _thanks_ Law.

Even after that fact, she still took Bepo to her house in order to pick up some more things that Law neglected to grab. And that was when she found out that he threw out all of her hair dyes. And of course, when she got back she immediately got herself in a heated argument. Which, of course, he won. (Damn you, Law. Damn you!)

-x-

"Hey, Ace appeared!" She distantly heard someone exclaim from down below and Cayenne looked at the center-most screen. Sure enough, there was Portgas D. Ace sitting there. She couldn't make out too many details except for the black, messy hair and the fact that he looked worse for wear.

Next to him, a tall man wearing a cap that had a seagull perched on top was taking a den-den mushi from one of the other marines. So, this was Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

"Men, I have something crucial to tell you!" His voice reverberated throughout the archipelago and immediately everyone was silent, hanging on to his every word. "Something about the true meaning of Portgas D. Ace meeting his end here today."

Cayenne raised an eyebrow. Did this mean that there was more to this execution than simply executing a Whitebeard Pirate?

"Ace." Sengoku addressed the pirate next to him. "Would you care to tell me the name of your father?"

Since Ace didn't have the den-den mushi near him it was hard to make out what he was saying but he had to have said Whitebeard because Sengoku spoke sharply. "No, he is not!"

"Yes he is!" Ace shouted. "Whitebeard is my only father!"

"Back then, we searched for any clue as if our lives depended on it." Sengoku continued, ignoring Ace's outburst. "We searched for the possibility that there was a child of _that man_. It was based on the smallest of leads from Cipher Pol, we investigated all newborns. All those children and their mothers but ultimately ended up with nothing."

Cayenne remembered that. Zia had told her that her parents had been investigated because she was born around _that time_. Though, the marines were only able to meet her parents once before they fled, knowing that the marines would figure out who they were eventually.

"But your mother… She risked her life in order to pull of a certain _trick_ with your birth. And this trick deceived us, in the South Blue at a certain island called "Baterilla." Your mother's name was Portgas D. Rouge." Sengoku took a breath and continued. "She performed a feat that we could have never fathomed. And out of devotion to you, she bore you in her womb for a full twenty months!"

Cayenne shuddered violently at that fact. While she had never had a child, she had seen women go through pregnancy and ultimately giving birth. From what she understood, it was painful when the baby decided it was ready to be born but to go through that for an extra eleven months? Suddenly, Cayenne felt awe and the utmost respect for Ace's mother.

"And when the birth finally came, she was all but spent." The Fleet Admiral was saying. "She left this world as you entered it. One year and three months after the father's death and a child was born bearing the most accursed blood to be found in this world. That child is _you_." He paused at this, allowing his words to sink in before continuing.

"Do not claim that you are not aware that your father is none other than _The Pirate King, Gold Roger!_"

Cayenne's mouth dropped open. _No way, the Pirate King had a son?_ Reporters began to clamor, as they quickly began to write down this piece of information or report back to their respective agencies. "So that means… That Roger's line had lived on all this time." Cayenne whispered in awe.

Rayleigh's words now suddenly made sense. _"Forcing the children to pay for the sins of their Fathers."_

Sengoku continued to speak. something about how Whitebeard took Ace under his wing giving him protection from the World Government but Cayenne was barely listening. _Execution for being Roger's son? Wasn't Roger's death retribution enough? _Fear gripped her. W_ould—would they do the same to me if they found out who my parents are? I barely remember their faces, why would _I _have to be the one to pay for their crimes?_

"He doesn't deserve this." Cayenne croaked out. Both Killer and Kid looked over at her, "Ace doesn't deserve to be a scapegoat for his father. His father is _dead._ Isn't that enough?"

"Not for them." Kid said, his eyes trained on the screen. "But damn, who would have thought? The great Pirate King having a kid." He laughed.

-x-

The moment Sengoku uttered those words, Luca just about choked on her own spit. The idea that the Pirate King had a son who had roamed about freely for twenty years was a hard thought to wrap the mind around.

She wondered if any Pirates from Roger's era knew this. What if Tez knew?

"Whitebeard! There's Whitebeard!" Someone was screaming.

On the screen was Marineford being surrounded a large amount of ships (Allies of Whitebeard, no doubt) and Whitebeard's flagship, _The Moby Dick_, was smack dab in the middle of the bay.

The war was starting.

-x-

All everyone could do was watch in silence as Whitebeard seemingly _punched_ the air and then two enormous tidal waves appeared on either side of Marineford. The Admiral Aokiji retaliated by freezing the waves and then all hell broke loose.

The Vice Admirals appeared to fend off the pirates. Even Kizaru showed up and attempted to attack Whitebeard directly. Only to be blocked by Marco and his devil fruit ability, whose blue fire glowed a brilliant blue whilst in his phoenix form.

Then came someone even larger than any of the giants seen at Marineford attacked. He was like a colossus. He filled up the screens with no problem. Luca flinched as she watched the marines aim all their attacks at him. He even lost a leg, but that didn't' deter him from trying to reach Ace.

Eventually the colossus fell but the pirates kept pushing. Luca's stomach rolled uneasily at the sight of all the bloodshed, it was like a barroom brawl times ten-thousand (maybe even more). While Cayenne just looked on silently, just taking everything in as she tried her best to follow each and every battle that was taking place in front of her eyes.

_This_ was history in the making, anyone who was there would have their name said for centuries to come. Pirate or marine it didn't make a difference. No matter who won, everyone there would be immortalized.

And then a battleship fell from the sky.

-x-

"How in the world…?" Cayenne muttered to herself as she strained to catch a glimpse of whoever was one the ship. Was it reinforcements for the pirates or marines?

But then a loud voice shouted something that echoed throughout the courtyard with no help from a den-den mushi. "ACE, I FINALLY FOUND YOU!"

"Is that… Strawhat Luffy?" Cayenne asked out loud and looked at her captain for confirmation.

"What the hell is he doing there?" Kid asked, outraged. "Does he just think that he can steal all of the attention?"

"I don't think that's it." From what she heard from Shakky and the inferences from the newspaper articles, she had a hunch that he didn't care about publicity. "Maybe he had a personal reason for being here."

As if he heard her, Sengoku voice was heard saying, "Monkey D. Luffy. Another person with cause to meet his end. Not only is he the foster brother of Portgas D. Ace but he is also the son of none other than the Revolutionary Dragon!"

"What?" She didn't even know Dragon had a son! "Huh, I wonder why he isn't the supernova with the biggest bounty." That earned her a glare from Kid, and Killer as well, and she returned his glare with a cool smile and explained herself. "You'd think that the World Government would want anyone related to Dragon in any way to be killed more than anyone else."

Well, she didn't know exactly how the World Government thought, but she could hazard a guess.

-x-

"_Is that why they're wanted?" A seven year old Cayenne asked Zia as she looked at the two wanted posters in her hand._

"_That's part of it." Zia replied, a cigarette between her teeth as she glanced down from her book. "They've only worked with Dragon a couple times. They're not too keen on helping him. Your father is what you'd call 'old friends' with Dragon. Eh… friends might be pushing it."_

"_So, why do they have such high bounties?"_

"_They've done a _lot _of things that the World Government doesn't like." Zia said._

"_So what'll happen if they find out about me?"_

"_Depends."_

"_Depends on what?"_

"_What your profession is when they discover that these two," Zia's old, wrinkled, yet strong chocolate brown hand pulled the two posters out of Cayenne's hands, "are your parents."_

_-x-_

Hmm, guess things wouldn't look up for her if they'd discover that little piece of information. Cayenne was keen to keep quiet about it. What good was it to ride on another's coattails when you could make something of yourself by yourself?

-x-

Luffy's endeavors were amazing, to say in the least. Even if he was the Supernova with the second highest bounty, he had done more in Luca's opinion. He didn't care if he was jumping into a warzone where only the most skilled of pirates had the right to compete (namely, pirates who had been in the New World), all he seemed about caring was getting to his brother.

She had to admit, he was one determined little guy, but then again he did have the initial D in his name.

-x-

"_That little rascal." Tez chuckled from behind his newspaper._

"_What?" Luca looked up from washing a glass._

"_Oh this boy, Monkey D. Luffy, they're saying he stormed Enies Lobby and survived a Buster Call." Tez laid the newspaper down on the bar and laughed deeply._

"_Really?" Luca asked._

"_Yep, that definitely sounds like someone who has the 'Spirit of D'."_

"_Spirit of D?" Luca echoed. "What's that?"_

"_It means that a person with that initial..." He trailed off thoughtfully. "Ah, just that these people do crazy things and bear everything with a smile."_

"_Sure." Luca returned back to glass but she couldn't help but wonder if he was going to say something different about the 'Spirit of D.'_

-x-

So what exactly was this Spirit of D? Maybe she'd find the answer.

"Jesus, what is he thinking?" Penguin exclaimed. "He's going to get himself killed!"

"Don't be too sure." Law replied. "He's quite strong."

"The three _Admirals_ are there, not to mention the Vice Admirals, Sengoku, and the Pirate Warlords! Hell, people are saying that Kuma was the one responsible for defeating his entire crew!"

"The real Kuma?" Law asked uninterestedly.

"Huh?" Luca asked stupidly turning away from the screen to look at Law curiously. "There was a fake Kuma?"

"I thought you weren't talking to me?" Luca blushed when she remembered that she refused to acknowledge him after finding out about her precious hair dye collection.

"Oh shut up." She growled and returned to watching whatever was happening on the screen. Everywhere she looked there was chaos, she would pick out one fight to watch but then another one would come up. Although the one in the middle was trained on Luffy as he made his way past countless marines.

And then, all cameras went on Whitebeard as he stood there… wait, what?

Was Whitebeard injured?

-x-

Yes, he was. Whitebeard was standing there, with a large sword running through his chest. But the most shocking fact of all: it was his _own_ crewmate who stabbed him. Then he loudly proclaimed that Whitebeard had sold all of them out in order to save Ace. He had traded every single one of his allies just to save Ace.

Preposterous. Even Cayenne knew that the World Government wouldn't simply just let Ace walk away. Not when he was the only living relative of Gold Roger, his son no less. That man had to be an absolute idiot to believe that.

And of course, this lie had cost Whitebeard dearly. He was wounded and getting on in years. Maybe the marines were hoping to kill two important people here today. She watched intently, waiting for Whitebeard's reply and just as he was about to speak…

…The cameras cut out.

"Whoa, what the hell?" People began to clamor.

"What's happening?"

"Did Whitebeard really sell out his comrades?"

"Come on, what's going on?"

"Heh, I guess the show's over." Kid said.

"What a shame, I really wanted to know what was going to happen." Cayenne shook her head sadly. She guessed she would have to wait for the official report to come through in order to know how the war ended. Even if the news would be said in the Marine's favor.

"What do we do know Captain?" Heat asked.

"Eh, if they don't come back on it a bit, we're leaving for the New World."

-x-

"They'd better hurry up and fix it." Luca scowled. Dammit, how dare they cut them off like that!

"Oi, Captain where are you going?" Bepo called out and Luca turned around to see Law… _walking away_?

"We're leaving!" Law said back to them. "Let's go Luca!"

"What?" Luca nearly shrieked, they were leaving when the single more important event since Roger's execution was happening right in front of them! She jogged in order to catch up to Law. "We're leaving? Why?"

Law didn't even falter as he replied. "We're going to Marineford."

The entire crew was silent until Luca broke it. "What?"

"You're joking, right Captain?" The other newcomer, Jean Bart spoke up.

"Nope."

"But why?" Luca asked and sped up so that she could walk alongside him.

"Mr. Strawhat." Was all he said.

"You're going because of Strawhat Luffy?"

But even after that, Law wouldn't say anything more. Luca gulped nervously, he was really going to take them into a warzone just like that? _Holy shit, he's crazy._ "You do know they're probably going to kill us before we even make it there, right?"

"You do know that my ship is a submarine, right?" Law didn't miss a beat.

Great, her first voyage as a pirate and she was going to the most dangerous place in the world right now. Wasn't life just grand?

"You know I hate you, right?"

-x-

**Writing this was kind of a pain, I had to keep skimming over the war because we all know what happened so to write everything about that in detail would just be pointless and it would take **_**forever**_**.**

**I'm not quite satisfied with this chapter so there's a slight chance I might go back and edit this chapter. And if there's more mistakes such as spelling mistakes and whatnot, I deeply apologize I wrote most of this on my new laptop and I'm still getting used to it.**

**Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. Reviews and constructive criticism is appreciated, flames are not. Until next time!**


	6. The War Part II

**Okay, this one's short but at least I got it out faster! You know the drill; **_One Piece_** doesn't belong to me. Cayenne and Luca do.**

**P.S. Be prepared for a long Author's note at the end.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

Okay, so they were sailing at top speed for Marineford in order to jump into one of the most dangerous conflicts only to probably meet certain doom. Sounds fun, right? Wrong. After attempting (multiple times) to persuade Law to just stay on Sabaody (or "Hell, why not sail for the New World, there won't be any interference from any of the Marines.") he was adamant. ("You don't have to come. In fact, if you keep complaining I can just put you back in your room.")

So Luca ended up lounging against a wall waiting for when they arrived at their destination. To tell the truth, she was nervous about this. The most fighting experience she had was just random barroom brawls, fights in the streets, and the occasional square off with Seesa. If she got pulled into the fighting, she feared she wouldn't last very long. She sighed for the umpteenth time and looked around nervously, sure she could probably keep up with some of the crew but odds were she could be the weakest crew member.

_Where's the cheese and crackers? This is so depressing._ She thought. _I'm usually never like this. Even if it's Whitebeard and the entire Marine army you should be excited about the chance to be a part of history._ Oh yeah, getting yourself killed was the perfect way to leave a mark on the world. _Okay, stop thinking depressing thoughts, Luca. They're going to get you nowhere and possibly killed._

They were going to Marineford and that was it. There was nothing else she could do (Or maybe she could kill Law and take over the ship… Nah, no one else would be particularly happy about that). So all that was left to do was to wait… where was Bepo?

Luca straightened out and stretched for a moment before walking off to find her favorite crewmate. Hey, Bepo was absolutely adorable (the soft fur was a bonus too) and the way that everyone else seemed to just walk over him made Luca's heart bleed with feelings of protection that she didn't know she had.

_Damn emotions._

Being the only female member of the crew was going to suck. And she wasn't talking about the situation of one girl being stuck with who knew how many guys. No, she was thinking more about the monthly business, having no one else to talk to about problems that only another female would understand (such as clothes—hey, she liked shopping for clothes, it was fun—) and various other things. The only common ground she probably shared with everyone here was that she could hold her liquor.

_Let's not think about this kind of stuff._ She thought. It was giving her a headache. And a headache was the last thing she would need right now. But all of her problems seemed to disappear when she turned the corner and found the white polar bear lounging on the floor. "Hi Bepo!" She chirped.

Bepo's ears perked up. "Hi Luca." He had warmed up to her immensely when he realized that she was the only who didn't continuously put him down. In fact, every time she saw him, she had to repress her inner child from squealing and Bepo didn't help when his ears would perk up and he would smile adorably at her.

Luca smiled happily as she joined the bear on the ground and immediately began to scratch his ears. She had to contain her giggle of happiness. _I__t's like having my own life-size teddy bear that moves._ "What are you doing?" A voice asked, almost bemusedly.

Her head snapped up from Bepo and locked attention on to Law who was across the hall, just sitting there, looking at Luca with that ever present smile. "What does it look like?" She asked.

Law's eyes moved from her to Bepo who was practically curled into her chest, while she scratched his ear, a look of great content on his face and one of his legs was actually kicking. It was… adorable and revolting at the same time. "It looks completely out of character."

Her brow crinkled in confusion. "Out of character?"

"Your profession was bar-tending, right?"

Oh, now she saw what he was getting at and Luca's cheeks puffed out in anger. "So? I happen to like cute, soft things!" Bepo was pulled out of his reverie when he realized that Luca had stopped scratching his ears. But before he could bring that to her attention she was already speaking to Law again. "Bepo is adorable and it's horrible how all of you just walk over him!" She hissed. "So what? I have to be mean to him too like everyone else? Hell no!"

-x-

And without further ado, she stood up and stomped off in the opposite direction. Bepo righted himself and stared at the corner where their only female crewmember disappeared. His heart seemed to lift when he remembered her words. "I really like her, Captain."

Law laughed. "So do I." He couldn't stop chuckling when he thought back to the conversation. It was amazing how he could say so little to get her so riled up. It was amusing, to say in the least. Heh, he was so glad he picked up someone like her in Sabaody.

And at least life wouldn't be too boring anymore.

-x-

Stupid Law. Why did he have to ruin everything? Luca cursed his name again. Thanks to him, she couldn't pet Bepo until they arrived. Now she had to find something else to do. But that was the problem, she couldn't think of anything else to do.

She leaned against a wall and sighed, closing her eyes, why wasn't there anything to do? _Maybe you'd find something to do if you connected with your nakama._ A small voice whispered in the back of their mind.

"Who the hell says I'm going to call them my nakama?" Luca retorted angrily to the voice. "As of right now, I'm still calling them my crewmates, got it?"

_Whatever you say._

Crap, she was talking to a disembodied voice in her head, she must be going insane. "Dammit!" She cursed and opened her eyes, only to realize that someone was staring at her. He was tall, flame-like tattoos on his forehead, and black hair. It was Jean Bart, the other new recruit. And he was currently staring at her like he thought there was something wrong with her.

"Hi." She muttered, a blush coloring her cheeks when she realized that he was probably there when she was talking to herself.

He merely tilted his head. "You're only calling us your crewmates?"

"Hey, I didn't volunteer for this." Luca said. "Law pretty much made the decision for me."

He didn't say anything for a moment, but Luca was pretty sure she knew what was going through his head. After all, Law had been the one to free Jean Bart from slavery, which made him grateful and eternally indebted to Law. "Everyone else has accepted you as their nakama." He finally said.

"What?"

"Mainly it's because you're a woman but some say that you can be nice, at least that's what Bepo is saying."

"Oh." Luca had to fight a smile when she thought of that bear. "I guess I need some time to adjust." She shrugged.

"Sure." Jean Bart said but then his mouth twitched into a smile. "I respect you though."

The woman was taken aback. "What?"

"It takes a lot to stand up to Law and argue with him." Jean Bart stated. "You speak your mind and—"

"WE'RE TEN MINUTES OUT FROM MARINEFORD! I REPEAT—!" A voice blared from above them.

"Showtime." Luca said grimly.

Jean Bart nodded and the two of them headed for the door leading to the deck, as that was where Law instructed them to meet when they arrived.

-x-

"We're nearly five minutes out, Cap'n!" Someone was shouting when Luca and Jean Bart arrived.

"Anything from the reports?" Law asked calmly from his spot near the door leading to the deck.

"They're saying that Ace is dead." The guy in the hat—err, Shachi?—was saying. "Whitebeard is dead too!"

Whitebeard was dead? Luca's stomach curled up into a ball and died, the strongest pirate in the seas was dead? How? "Do they know how?" She asked him.

"Something about a man named Blackbeard and escapees from Impel Down. They aren't being very clear. What are we going to do Captain?"

Law merely stared at the door. "Listen," he spoke and immediately everyone was silent. "We're here to get Mr. Straw Hat out of here."

"One minute!" Someone called out.

"After we have Mr. Straw Hat, we're getting out of here. I'm not risking my neck anymore after that." The submarine shook as it broke the surface and almost immediately, Law opened the door and stepped through it, Luca, Bepo, Jean Bart, and several other crew members following him.

"Bring Mr. Straw Hat over here!" Law shouted when he reached the edge of the deck.

A large speck in the air sputtered at the sight of the submarine, Luca could only make out a large shape and that was it. "Who the hell are you?" The speck in the air shouted angrily.

"Mr. Straw Hat may be an enemy of mine one day but a relationship is still a relationship! It'll be extremely disappointing if he dies here!" Law continued, "I'm going to make sure he escapes so entrust him to me for the time being. _I'm a doctor!_"

"Like I said before, who the hell are you?" The shape in the air shouted.

Law chose to ignore this. "Just get those two on board!"

When she squinted she could actually distinguish who was up in the air, one of them was conscious and holding the other two, one was a very large fishman and the other was Straw Hat Luffy. _He looks like hell._ She thought dimly and kept looking out on the battlefield. Why did she feel so strange?

"It's Kizaru!" Somebody near her shrieked.

Luca didn't even look up, not even as the person tossed the fishman and Luffy down to the sub. Instead, she looked out over the battlefield, something… something was telling her to get out there, and she needed to get out there _now._

She hopped up onto the railing and leapt off, ignoring the protests and cries from various crewmates—even Law's shout of, "what the hell are you doing?"—and ran for some unknown destination in the battlefield.

Luca didn't know why, but it felt to her that her legs had a mind of their own, they were compelled to make her run in a certain direction and she skidded to a stop when she saw something. It was the straw hat that Straw Hat Luffy always wore. _I came out all this way… for a hat?_ She thought numbly and then reality sank in. _She was standing in the middle of the biggest battle in history._

Her legs gave way and she sank to the ground. _What was I _thinking_?_ She thought in a panic, she needed to get back to the ship. And just as she managed to regain the feeling in her legs, a shadow loomed over her. She looked up and paled.

_Admiral Akainu was standing right in front of her._ "Damn pirates." He muttered. "All of you should be put down like the dogs you are." And then his hand turned into _magma._

_OhmygodI'mgoingtodie._ She didn't want to die, not here, and especially not now. In a feeble attempt she placed her arms in front of her as a sort of shield as Akainu's magma got closer to wiping her from existence. _"NO!"_

Then several things happened at once.

The numb feeling in her legs spread to her stomach where it turned into a warm, tingly feeling, and then traveled up into her arms where it turned into… Luca couldn't figure out what it turned into because all of a sudden, there was a large burst of… she still didn't know. And Admiral Akainu suddenly found himself being flung backwards twenty feet.

Somehow, she had managed to neutralize his magma and land a physical blow that knocked him off his feet, _without even touching him._ Akainu lay on his back, gasping for breath, it had even hurt him. Garp, Sengoku, Aokiji, and Kizaru had stopped what they were doing and stared at the small figure, still on the ground with her hands up.

-x-

"Th-that haki!" Sengoku gasped. His eyes weren't deceiving him. But it was absurd… How could this be? The only haki that one in a billion people are born with and now this girl shows up and suddenly she has it too?

"What was that?" Luca whispered as she lowered her hands and stared at them.

"Zehahahaha!" This is an interesting development!" Blackbeard laughed. "I bet this makes you uneasy, eh, Sengoku?" He turned to the Fleet Admiral who was still staring in shock. "Just think, counting her, the people with _that haki_ are all pirates!"

Sengoku turned to Blackbeard angrily. "It won't matter, she isn't leaving here alive! And neither are you!"

-x-

With Sengoku's words, the fighting resumed and Admiral Akainu stood up, ready to fight once more.

"Admiral!" The men around him began to protest.

"Enough!" He growled. "I can still fight." His eyes landed on that pirate girl, _still_ staring in shock. Oddly enough, she looked familiar… "Don't let the pirates leave here alive!"

-x-

"_THAT'S ENOUGH!"_ Someone's voice cried loudly over the roar, causing Luca to snap out of it. _That voice, I know that voice._

She saw a marine standing in front of Akainu with his arms out. "Lives are being wasted!" He shouted.

"Coby?" Luca whispered.

It _was_ Coby. He had lived down the road from her on the island where she grew up in East Blue and he always talked about joining the marines one day. And he had finally done it. "We've completed our goal and are just abandoning marines that could be saved. Every marine that falls from here on out… don't you think that they look like _complete idiots?_"

She couldn't hear Akainu's reply but it looked bad because his arm turned into magma again and prepared to strike him down. "Coby!" She shouted.

Luca wanted to move to help him, but her legs wouldn't respond. _Somebody stop him! Please!_

Somebody answered her plea.

It all happened very quickly, one second Akainu was bearing down on Luca's old friend and the next second someone had blocked him with a sabre. His back was to Luca, so all that she could make out was his red hair.

-x-

"Well done, young marine." His voice was quiet yet for some reason she could hear it. "Those seconds of courage that you just took, for good or bad, have just changed the fate of the world."

Some people pointed off in the distance at the ship that was coming in, the rest stared at the red haired man and some even screamed. "It's Red-Haired Shanks!"

_One of the Four Emperors._ Well, three Emperors now that Whitebeard was dead. Akainu had backed off, watching warily, he didn't want to admit it but the attack from _that haki_ had weakened him. Shanks picked up the hat from the ground and declared. "I'm here to end this war!"

-x-

Marines gasped in shock, some even commenting about how he had a skirmish with Kaidou and yet made it here to participate. "You, girl!" Shanks called, turning around to look at Luca.

She squeaked. _"Me?"_

He smiled warmly at her. "There's going to be someone who'll want to meet you in the New World." Shanks tossed Luffy's hat to her and she caught it. "Give that to Luffy and hurry, your Captain wants to get out of here."

As he said those words, the feeling in her legs returned and she was able to shakily stand up. "Thanks." She whispered hoarsely and then bolted for the submarine. _Law's going to be pissed._ She realized as she ran. Honestly, what was she thinking? _I don't think I was even thinking at all. I think it was just… instinct._

"Come on Captain!" Bepo pleaded. "I know it's rare to see one of the Emperors but we're almost under water!

"Hang on!" Law said as he saw the figure of Luca clambering up onto the deck. "Get in here!" He ordered.

She didn't need to be told twice and skidded into the room and Law shut the door. The submarine went fully under just moments after that. "Get us out of here now!" Law shouted as he made his way over to Luffy who was on a table. "Get him into the OR, I'll be there shortly."

"Right away." Someone said and Monkey D. Luffy was whisked away.

Law turned to Luca angrily. "What the hell where you thinking?"

For once, she couldn't retort back angrily or even give a legitimate excuse. "I don't know." She murmured clutching onto Luffy's hat like it was her only lifeline.

"You could have been killed!" Law continued, not only could he not stand being ordered around but he also couldn't stand it when one of his subordinates wouldn't follow his orders.

"I know." She mumbled again. She couldn't even look at him. She just continued to stare at Luffy's hat. There was just too many emotions swirling inside of her, all she wanted to do was just sit there and let everything sink in. "You should tend to Luffy."

Law sighed. Luffy's life was in danger, he couldn't afford to be standing there. "We'll continue this later." He promised and walked off to the OR so he could save Luffy's life. The pirate who went to Marineford to save his brother's life, only to fail.

Once Law's footsteps died down, Luca let out a breath as she continued to stare at the hat. It was too much. She jumped in head first into an extremely dangerous battle, nearly got killed, somehow injured an Admiral, saw an old friend from a life that felt like ages ago, met an Emperor, was addressed by said Emperor, and even got advice from that Emperor. It was all too much.

She let her emotions loose and clutched even tighter to the hat. Burying her face into the hat, she cried. She didn't know what else to do. And it seemed like the only logical thing to do. And for some reason she felt connected to Monkey D. Luffy. Not just because she was crying into his hat but because that he lost his brother.

_I know how it feels to lose a loved one, Luffy. You're not alone._ Those thoughts brought back memories that she had buried deep inside of her, memories that she didn't want to visit again, and some memories that she wanted to visit again but didn't because those memories made the pain worse.

And she cried even harder.

-x-

Cayenne looked out at the wreckage that was once called Marineford. After the feeds cut, Kid didn't want to waste any more time and immediately set out for Marnieford where they just sat, listening to the news and watched the final events unfold.

She was unnerved at the fact that Whitebeard was dead. After all he was called the strongest pirate on the seas. Who would get that title now? Possibly one of the remaining Emperors.

But she couldn't help but smile when she recalled one of the reports. When Trafalgar Law showed up someone had jumped off his ship and into the fray. Then someone was frantically saying how this person managed to land bodily harm on Admiral Akainu without even touching him. It was then that she knew that it was Luca. She didn't need that report. She felt her burst of 'spirit' even from this far away. Then it was true, Luca was with Law. _I guess I can't complain. She can take care of herself anyway._ Then she flinched when she thought back to hearing about Luca diving in head first in the war. _Hopefully._

"I'll admit I was surprised when I heard about this war breaking out." Heat spoke. "But now the great Whitebeard has died!"

"Then with this, it's over—"

"Haha, what's over?" Kid interrupted with a gleeful laugh. "The crew known as "Blackbeard" that's was born from this have balls! The sea known as the New World is all controlled by the Emperors. "Red Hair," "Kaidou," "Big Mom." He let out another bark of laughter. "Now that the balance has crumbled who knows what'll happen now!"

Cayenne shivered, Kidd was right. Everything would be different from now on. Nothing would be the same. "A new age has begun!" Kid roared. "An age like nothing anyone's ever seen before!" He howled with gleeful laughter and Cayenne shivered again, so now her captain decided to reveal that he was blood thirsty lunatic?

"We set sail for the New World!" Kid ordered, turning around. "Set course for Fishman Island!"

And now, her adventure as a pirate began and all Cayenne could do was hope that she was ready for it. _Best of luck to you, Luca._ She thought, staring at the ruins of Marineford. _L__et's meet again in the New World._

-x-

**Hoo boy that was fun. So, um, I must rant first, so if you don't care about rants you can just skip this part.**

**Well, damn, a two year time skip? Why Oda? Why? I probably said what every fanfiction writer probably said when they read those words, "**_**Oh shit". **_**Yeah, that put another wrench in my plans. Because there's no way in hell I can cover two years and then have the other (other meaning manga) plot actually come in. Okay, if it was a couple months I could do it, but **_**two years?**_** Yeah… No. So, I will continue writing (since there is still more that I need to cover) and then once One Piece comes back after its four week break, I'm going to wait a little bit and see what happened in that two year span. What I might end up doing is just speed it up and have the time skip go for only a couple months; unless someone else has suggestions that might make the two years more manageable. Or maybe I'll come up with something when I take another step back to look at everything.**

**Okay, rant over!**

**Short chapter, I know. But I hope it was filled with action and emotion to make up for its shortness. Yeah, Luca got a little emotional, but I would be too from getting those shocks in a short period of time. So, be prepared for some backstory from Luca coming up in the next couple of chapters!**

**Now that I'm on the subject of chapters… Since Luca and Cayenne have gone their separate ways I can't keep doing the split in the story at certain intervals to tell their part of the story. It would be too confusing since they're now having their own arcs and are also at different places. SO, what I'm going to do is this: Luca and Cayenne will get their own set of chapters that will focus on them and their arc and then it'll bounce back and forth. There might be some times when they'll appear in the same chapter but that'll probably only be transitioning from one character to the other.**

**So the titles will kinda go like this: L: Chapter Title or C: Chapter Title. And that'll obviously let you know which chapter the focus is going to be on. So yes, the next set of chapters will focus on Luca. So we won't be seeing Cayenne for a while.**

**One more thing (I'm almost done, I promise!), I don't know if anyone is going to complain about this but still. **_**Yes, Luca does have haki and yes, it is a rare type of haki.**_** I know I know that it could very much set up Luca becoming a Mary-Sue but I realized that Luca didn't have a definite fighting style and that she needed one, and thus, this was born.**

**You wanna know why? Neither Luca nor Cayenne will be eating a Devil Fruit. Many OCs in One Piece fics that I have read the OC almost always has a DF ability. So if anyone was looking forward to Luca or Cayenne getting a DF ability, I'm sorry to disappoint you but they're not getting it. Nope.**

**It makes it much more interesting. I could go on, but I think you're all done with me going on about this stuff. So, thanks for reading!**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! Flames are not.**

**Until next time!**


	7. L: Amazon Lily

**Well, aren't you readers lucky? Another update in less than a week! This is more of a filler chapter but hopefully it provides some insight and humor.**

**One Piece does not belong to me; Eiichiro Oda is its rightful owner. I'm not making any money off this.**

**Luca is mine though.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

-x-

After Luca was done crying, she went straight to her room where she collapsed on her bed, still holding onto the hat. She was worn out, everything that happened earlier and then the crying, it was a wonder that she didn't pass out on the floor. Before she could turn over and get in a comfortable position, her eyes fluttered shut and her hand slowly released Luffy's hat.

She was asleep soon after that.

"_No!" She screamed from behind her arms._

_Akainu was bearing down on her, his magma hand poised to kill but he never reached her. Instead, something pushed him back. Then the scene froze. Luca was staring down at herself on the ground and then to Akainu who was being flung back._

_It was a weird feeling for her to just stand there and look at herself down on the ground. Luca frowned but her attention went to the space between her on the ground and Akainu. If she looked hard enough, she could almost see _something_. It kind of looked like a burst of air. But how was she able to do something like that?_

_She reached out a hand, hoping to touch it but the scene came back to life and Akainu collapsed on the ground. "What was that?" The Luca on the ground whispered as she brought her arms down._

"_What was that indeed?" Luca echoed._

"_Luca…" The scene blurred and then she saw a flash of dirty blonde hair and a pair of vivid blue eyes staring at her before disappearing into the darkness. "Luca…"_

_She recognized that voice immediately and her heart froze. "I'm sorry." She choked. "I'm so sorry, if I was stronger I could've _done _something."_

_Someone behind her pushed her and she fell, falling down into the—_

THUD

Luca awoke when her back painfully collided with the floor. "Ow." She groaned as she sat up, the pillows on her bed were also on the floor and one of her blankets was askew. She must have been tossing and turning in her sleep and then ended up rolling off the bed. The room shuddered again and Luca felt a bit woozy. The sub must be returning to the surface.

Standing up, she smoothed out her clothes, picked up Luffy's fallen hat, and then walked out the door. And then was nearly flattened by Bepo who was running down the hall. "Hey, what was that for?" She shouted at the bear's retreating back but the bear didn't answer her and disappeared around the corner.

"There's a marine ship on our tail." Luca let out a startled yelp and turned to face Jean Bart who was standing there.

"What?"

He looked at her strangely. "For the last hour we've been trying to shake them off, didn't you feel it?"

She smiled sheepishly. "I was sleeping." She must have been really tired if she slept through the sub trying to shake off another ship. Maybe that's why she fell off her bed.

Jean Bart shrugged. "We decided to go up and make a stand, and we figured it'd be the only way. Captain Law is still working on Luffy."

"He is?"

The two of them headed in direction that Bepo was running to while Jean Bart explained. "He had to stop Straw Hat's bleeding first but directed his attention to Jinbei and patched him up and then returned back to Straw Hat."

"Jinbei?"

"A former Warlord, he's a fishman."

"Oh." Now she remembered. He was the large fishman from earlier, the one who had been thrown down with Luffy. "How is Luffy, anyway?"

"Still unconscious, his wounds were pretty severe." The large man shrugged. "Captain Law won't let us into the OR."

"I see." Luca let out a worried sigh and brought the hat to her chest, what was going to happen to him?

"We better hurry." Jean Bart interrupted her worries. "They're going to need everyone on hand for this." He began to jog now.

"Right," Luca nodded and hurried after him.

-x-

It turned out, though, that everyone on the ship were allies of Luffy. Penguin had filled them in in an almost dreamlike state when they arrived and once Luca got out on the deck she could see why all the guys were smiling happily.

Before them was a tall, extremely beautiful black haired woman and behind her was a large grinning snake (she didn't know snakes could smile, it was creepy to look at and the skull it was wearing wasn't helping). "Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock." Someone whispered dreamily. "She's even more beautiful than I could imagine."

Dear God. She was surrounded by idiots.

"What is Luffy's condition?" Was the first thing she said to them in a demanding tone and her eyes were slightly narrowed.

"Good job tailing us, I thought you were the marines." Bepo said instead. In actuality none of them really knew how Luffy was doing. For all they knew, he could be dead.

"I had Salome track you on the ocean floor." Hancock gestured to the grinning snake (once again, creepy) behind her. Then she narrowed her eyes at Bepo. "And don't change the subject, you mere beast."

Luca narrowed her eyes in anger, why did everybody insist on treating Bepo like dirt? "Sorry." Bepo muttered and lowered his head in shame. But before she could tell the "Pirate Empress" off, the door swung open to reveal a grim Law who was wiping blood off his hands with a towel.

Luca sucked in a breath. It couldn't be that Luffy…? "Law?" She asked hesitantly.

"I did all that I could." He said, his face betraying nothing. "His life is still being preserved but to put it frankly, he's accumulated an unbelievable amount of damage. There isn't a guarantee that he'll make it."

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Someone on the marine ship shouted in glee. Luca jumped at the sight of the extremely large—man?—with curly purple hair complete with a small crown lean over the edge. Many more people showed up, each one stranger than the last.

"He gave it his best!"

"It was thanks to him that we escaped!"

"Who they hell are they?" Shachi asked, his jaw open from the strange sight.

"Prisoners from Impel Down." Hancock explained. "It seems that they're on Luffy's side."

Now all of them were dancing and celebrating. We can finally go back to "Kamabakka Kingdom"! The place we've been dreaming about for years!"

Luca snorted, just from these guys, she knew "Kamabakka Kingdom" would live up to its name. Full of transvestites indeed.

The purple haired—man?—jumped from the ship and landed on the deck gracefully. "Strav Hat's body vas already vithered to the point vhere he vasn't able to stand vhen he vas in Impel Down! But you have to admit, it vas amazing to see him go that vild! And it vas all for the sake of rescuing Ace, his brother. But that very brother he vas trying to save died right before his eyes. It vas no surprise that he collapsed like that!"

After that little speech, every single person on the other ship burst into loud, noisy tears. "Hang in there Straaaaw Haaaaat!" Someone cried noisily.

Scratch her previous statement. She was surrounded by complete lunatics.

"What a tragedy." Hancock sniffed, her face buried in her hands. "I could have gone in his place, oh poor, poor Luffy."

_And she's the craziest of them all._

It was then that the purple haired—seriously, was this person a man?—_He's probably a transvestite, Luca, of course he's a man!_—turned to Law and asked. "By the vay, are you a friend of Strav Hat boy or something, sveetie?"

Luca's snort quickly turned into a cough when Law sent her a look from the corner of his eye. "No." He said coldly. "I had no obligation to save him but if it will ease your mind, shall I make up an excuse?"

"No need! There are times vhen only instinct vill move our bodies!"

When he said that, Luca thought back to when she jumped off the ship and ran into the battle. Instinct, huh? Maybe it had something to do with that incident with Akainu. "And vho might you be?" She shrank back a little when the large purple hair man loomed over her.

"Luca." She managed to say, God he was big.

His large grin seemed to even get bigger. "a flover among thorns!" He leaned even closer. "It must be a pain to be the only voman in a ship full of men." He waved a hand at her, his nails were scarily sharp, almost like needles. "I can fix that!"

Luca waved her hands, trying to keep him away. " No thanks, I manage just fine." If she could call avoiding most of the crew members (plus Law) and spending most of her time with Bepo as "managing".

He laughed and dropped his hands to his hips. "I like your hair, my dear! It takes guts to valk among other people vith hair like that!"

She fingered a tendril of her blue hair (crap, that reminded her that Law threw her hair dyes away.) "I've been doing it for a long time."

"You have spunk!" He laughed loudly.

Was there a point to this conversation anymore? But thankfully, she was saved from the conversation when the door to the deck opened once more to reveal the large, blue fishman. Jinbei, "The Knight of the Sea" and a former Pirate Warlord and he looked pretty beat up, some of his wounds had reopened and were bleeding through the bandages.

"Trafalgar Law of North Blue!" He said, obviously trying to hide the fact that he was extremely tired and most likely in pain. "I thank you. You saved my life."

"Rest or you'll die." Law said bluntly, not even moved by Jinbei's declaration.

"I cannot!" Jinbei declared. "My heart cannot settle down, for what I've lost this time is too great for me to bear! But I can't imagine the pain Luffy's heart is going through. His fainting must have been his mind's last defense for seeing his brother die before his eyes! I fear the moment when he wakes up."

"Saying stuff like that." Luca interrupted him. "Isn't a good idea. What Luffy needs most is rest and peace of mind, he can't heal if all of you are grieving as well. It's just a constant reminder of what he lost."

"And how would you know what Luffy has lost?" Hancock snapped at her. "You don't even know him." Her eyes traveled down Luca's arm and rested on Luffy's prized hat in her hands and she shrieked. "How dare you merely hold his hat like that! I demand that you turn it over to me at once!"

"Hell no!" Luca retorted and turned to fully face to the seething Empress. "I'm giving it to Luffy when he wakes up."

-x-

Hancock froze, could this girl… possibly be in love with Luffy? No! She wouldn't lose to some girl, _especially _a girl who didn't know _anything_ about _her_ Luffy! _"You're giving it to Luffy when he wakes?" _She shrieked again and Luca winced at the sheer volume, "What gives you that right?"

-x-

"Shanks told me to give it to Luffy and that's what I'm going to do!" Luca shouted back.

All the men in the crew, minus Law, watched the shouting match between the two women with great interest. "I wonder who would win if those two got in a fight." Penguin whispered, already fantasizing it.

"The Empress, no doubt." someone whispered. "She's the more beautiful of the two."

"But you have to admit, Luca's got the kind of spunk that makes her cute, plus I consider it a bonus that she was a bartender."

"I like her hair, it's a nice touch." Shachi admitted. "It adds to her character."

"I like Luca." Bepo said.

"Shut up Bepo!" Several people shouted.

"Quit being mean to Bepo!" Luca snapped at them, turning her attention away from the mad Empress.

"You there, beast!" Hancock approached Bepo, making sure to cut Luca off. "Do you have a den-den mushi?"

"Er yes, we do ma'am! I'm sorry." Bepo said as his head snapped back up.

"He's like the Empress' slave or something." Penguin whispered. "Lucky."

"If we call the Kuja fleet, your submarine will be able to cross the Calm Belt." Hancock said. "If the World Government learns of Luffy's survival they will send pursuers. As long as I remain a Pirate Warlord we will be able to treat him safely at Amazon Lily. Now get me a den-den mushi!"

"Right away!" Bepo scurried off.

"The Isle of Women?" Penguin crowed happily. "The place that all men dream about but never get to see?"

"It's a dream come true." Shachi just about squealed.

_Like I said before: idiots, every single one of them._ Luca frowned but didn't say anything else. She just leaned against a railing and watched everyone else mill about, preparing to sail for the famous Amazon Lily.

Oh well, she was still holding onto Luffy's hat.

-x-

"Now listen here, you stupid girl—"

"Oh nice comeback! "Stupid girl," like I haven't heard that before, you old hag!"

"_How dare you call me that?"_

"What, never been called names before?"

"_Give me Luffy's hat!"_

"NO!"

Neither Luca nor Hancock had left the deck because when Luca attempted to enter the ship again, Hancock spotted her and immediately assumed that she was going to go see Luffy. And the fact that she still had Luffy's hat made her feel threatened. So, of course, she demanded the hat and then demanded to see Luffy. To which Luca retorted back angrily and then they started arguing.

"I could kill you and no one would even blink! I could turn everyone here to stone, kick a puppy, or even club a baby seal!" Hancock snapped, she pointed at Luca and then her neck snapped back so she was looking at the sky, "And everyone will forgive me for I am beautiful!"

Luca stared and stared some more. But then she began to laugh. "How stupid are you?" She laughed so hard, her ribs hurt.

Hancock almost fainted from the shock. Another person was immune to her? And this time it was a girl! "From this day on, we are rivals!" She shouted at her.

-x-

Luca continued to laugh as Hancock stood there fuming.

"Vell then!" Ivankov ("Call me Iva, sveetie!") said from the other ship to Law. "My duty to protect Strav Hat ends here!" He continued to say loudly over the fuming Hancock and Luca, whose laughter died down into chuckling. "I'm going to leave everything to you all, is that alright Jinbei?"

"That is fine with me." Jinbei said. "I'm unable to swim so I shall oversee Luffy's recovery."

"Bye Straaaw Haaat!" Everyone else on board the ship to Kamabakka Kingdom shouted. "Thank you for letting us see the light of this corrupted world once again! Give him our best when he wakes up!"

"Byyyyeee!"

"Give it your best!"

And with that, the ship sailed away to Kamabakka Kingdom and the Kuja ship arrived shortly after. Of course, Hancock wanted to see Luffy before she would embark on her own ship but Law was adamant that Luffy have no visitors until he awoke and she left in a huff (but not before giving Luca an intense glare who returned it with a smirk of her own).

"She's insane." Luca finally said when she was out of earshot.

Penguin still had a dreamy expression on his face, no doubt still imagining a fight between Luca and Hancock. Jean Bart just shook his large head in exasperation and Law's smile turned into a smirk. He knew that she'd bring some excitement to the crew.

"U-um, I think that you'd win." Shachi offered to her.

Luca's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Er, thanks?"

"No problem."

She had to turn away to hide her growing blush, maybe Jean Bart was right… Luca felt a pair of eyes on her and she looked over to see Law watching her with a smirk on his face. "What's your problem?" She snapped at him.

"Nothing." Law smirked even more.

"Whatever, I'm going back inside." She said testily and walked back inside.

Complete idiots, every single one of them.

-x-

The journey to Amazon Lily didn't take too long. No doubt Hancock wanted to get there as fast as possible to ensure Luffy's safety. It only took about a day and a half. A messenger came over to their ship and informed Law that they would be docking their ship on a beach far away from the village. They had already set up an impromptu camp and none of the men would be allowed into the village unless they wanted to be turned into stone.

The only one allowed to go into the village was Luca since she, of course, was a woman but although Hancock was reluctant to give her permission, she decided that Luca would be the only way she could obtain information about Luffy's state. Since she, herself, was banned from seeing Luffy until he woke up.

"Luca's so lucky." Penguin sighed after Luca disembarked their ship and onto the Kuja Pirates' ship so she could sail into the village in order to get supplies for them.

There was a murmur of agreement from the rest of the crew, each one of them wishing they could be in Luca's place. The Isle of Women, it was so tempting to take just one peek…

-x-

The village was in the middle of the island in order to have maximum security. Hancock had immediately disembarked the ship without even looking at Luca or the people who had come out to greet her and entered her palace.

"She's just worried about Luffy." One of the pirates, Ran, said to Luca. "If it was a different situation she would be a little more sociable."

"Right." Luca grunted, thanks to their fight on-board the sub, she didn't have a high opinion on the Pirate Empress. She had actually pissed off Hancock even more when she found out that Luca had left Luffy's hat with Law instead of taking it with her. It was so easy to get her mad whenever Luffy was concerned. It was funny to watch. _Now I understand why Law gets so amused when I argue with him._

"So what do you need?" Ran asked as they walked down the streets towards the shops.

"Just some food and water to last us until Luffy's on his feet. We have enough to get us to the next island." She replied. This place was so interesting! It truly lived up to its name of the Isle of Women but she noted that not every single woman on the island was a gorgeous beauty. In fact, most of them were oddly disproportionate but it didn't deter the fact that they were insanely strong. One woman walked past them carrying six or seven giant fish on her shoulders.

"Every single woman in the Kuja tribe is trained to be a warrior as they grow up. Some continue that training or find a trade that suits them." Ran explained when she noticed the look on Luca's face.

Luca frowned. "Question. if there aren't any men here, how can you keep this place populated?" She asked.

Ran laughed. "Any Kuja who leaves the island sometimes lies with a man and comes back pregnant. Any children of the Kuja are always girls."

"So you Kuja pirates are also tasked with repopulating this place?"

"Yep, since we're the only ones with permission to leave the island. Anyone else who leaves is exiled forever."

"That sounds great." Luca mumbled. So if anyone left the island without permission, they could never return home, and those with permission had a responsibility of getting pregnant at some time or another.

"The laws are strict and they're strictly upheld." Ran said shortly. They didn't say anything else on the subject and Ran led Luca over to a fish vendor. "This is Violet." She introduced. "Violet has some of the best fish. Raw, fresh from this morning or smoked if you prefer."

Violet was at least two heads taller than Luca with broad shoulders and a square shaped face. Her hair, though, was bright violet and pulled back into a ponytail. "The fish is as fresh as it can be. One of my workers caught it just this morning."

"Sure, I'll take some raw fish." She eyed the large piled of fish. "Eh, three of those nice middle-sized ones will be fine." She didn't know if anyone liked fish, but she had a hunch that Bepo might, since he was a bear, and most bears ate fish.

Violet busied herself with wrapping up the fish as tight as can be so as to avoid spoiling, but first she sprinkled a handful of herbs on each fish, some for flavoring and some for keeping the fish preserved. "Are you a visitor here?"

"Yes she is." Ran answered for her. "She's with the crew that's on the side of the island. They're tending to Luffy there."

"Luffy?" Violet's head snapped up at the name of their stretching, man-friend. "Why doesn't Luffy come here?"

"Elder Nyon said he should stay away from the village while he rests, he needs peace and quiet." Ran said smoothly, clearly omitting the fact that the crew tending to him was full of men.

"I'm Luca." Luca changed the subject and introduced herself.

"I'm pleased to meet you Luca." Violet beamed, "thank you for taking care of Luffy. Just for that, I'm giving you a discount. Nine thousand Gor for the lot!"

Gor? Luca nervously turned to Ran. Law had only given her a sack full of beri.

"It's alright." Ran said, sensing Luca's distress. "Send someone up to the palace later on and they'll pay you. Okay Violet?"

Violet nodded and handed over the fish to the two women. "Sure thing!"

This was going to be problem, how were they going to carry everything between the two of them? "Ahh, right on time." Ran said happily and pointed down the street.

A couple more Kuja pirates were walking down the street towards them and they were leading a fairly large boar with a cart attached to it. "I figured you would need one." Ran said.

"Thanks." Luca said gratefully. Ran waved away the women who brought the cart and they disappeared to who knows where and the two women put the fish in the cart. There was also a tarp to pull over the cart in order to keep the meat out of the sun. Clever. Ran gave the boar's rump a soft pat and it pulled forward at a steady pace.

"You all do pretty well here." Luca commented at the sight of all the merchant stalls. There were even blacksmith shops, carpenter shops, and the like.

"Of course, we've survived on our own like this for generations." Ran said proudly. "We don't need to rely on useless men!"

Luca snorted. "But I guess most of these women have never seen man, huh?"

"Before Luffy, no. Men are forbidden from entering this place. He was the first exception since he's on good terms with Princess Hebihime. Since Amazon Lily is in the calm belt, it was our natural protection and it kept outsiders out. But when the World Government started developing ways to pass through the calm belt undetected by sea kings the chances of intruders entering here sky-rocketed. The only way to keep us safe was by having Princess Hebihime sign a treaty with the government and become a Warlord."

"Tough break."

"As long as it keeps Amazon Lily safe, it doesn't matter." Ran replied, she patted the boar two times and it stopped. She nodded over at a stall. "Here's a meat stall. This one specializes in jerky. Even if you said you have enough supplies until you reach the next island, I'd recommend you get some. Currant makes some of the best jerky in the village."

Luca took her advice and got quite a bit of jerky and she ate a piece as they got some fresh meat as well. Ran was right, the jerky was good. It was full of flavor and wasn't too tough to chew. Once they had enough Ran took her to the vegetable and fruit sellers and pointed out which fruits were in season and which vegetables were the best quality.

Luca was grateful that Ran was helping her out, not only with the food but she was also telling her a lot about the island, in fact she was explaining the fact that the women who never left the island didn't know about devil fruits.

"So they think that all men can stretch like Luffy?"

"Yes. We also thought it was best to keep the rest of your crew away, not only because they were men but also because they might learn about the outside world."

"What's so bad about that?"

"It's tradition. We've lived in seclusion for a long time and we've no interest in getting buddy-buddy with other people out there. The Kuja people believe that we can survive on our own and have no interest in relying on men with the exception of getting pregnant."

"I guess that's understandable." Luca murmured. After all, if she had lived her whole life without any help from a man, she wouldn't be too keen to accept it now.

"You probably know that Princess Hebihime has a devil fruit ability but," she gestured to everyone around them, milling about as they went about their own business. "They don't and Princess Hebihime wants to keep it that way. For all they know, Princess Hebihime and her sisters killed a gorgon and stole her powers."

She had to hand it to Hancock, she was clever at lying. "It still doesn't explain why they don't know about devil fruits."

"Princess Hebihime has her own reasons for keeping that information away from them."

"So then, anyone who becomes a Kuja pirates has to be ready for the truth?"

"That's why we have a rigorous selection program. Not only to they have to be strong but they also have to be strong-minded." She snorted, "Not that it matters, everyone is always shocked when they find out the truth. But then they're quickly sworn to secrecy."

"I see." She vaguely wondered what would happen if a devil fruit somehow ended up on the island… she wondered if it happened before.

"I think that's everything." Ran was saying.

Luca snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?" She asked confusedly.

"I said, I think you have everything you need." Ran repeated.

She looked over the stock in the cart and nodded. "I think you're right." They circled around the market and took another street back to the entrance. This street was filled more with blacksmiths and what not, but she couldn't help notice the snake shops. "Ran, what's with the snakes?"

"They're our weapons." She replied. "We use snakes mainly as bows, but they have other uses too." Something underneath her cloak stirred and a grinning pink snake popped its head out. "We've used them since the beginning of the Kuja tribe."

"You use a snake as a bow?"

"Yes, they're better to use than a regular bow. But the true power behind it all is the haki-imbued arrows."

Luca stopped and stared at Ran in shock. "H-haki?"

Ran frowned and stopped the boar. "Yes, haki. It's what we all use here."

She went back to the moment at the war when she had hurt Akainu and everyone around her immediately called it _that haki._ Luca walked up to Ran and quickly asked. "Tell me, who has the best knowledge of haki here?"

She blinked at such a request. "That would be Black Thorn but normally, it's pretty difficult to get a hold of her. Elder Nyon would be your best bet."

"Can you take me to her?"

"Why do you want to see Elder Nyon?"

"I need to ask her something."

-x-

After another few minutes of convincing, Ran obliged and took Luca to a hut near the outskirts of the village. Elder Nyon was a former Empress of Amazon Lily who had left years before, according to Ran she was exiled but Hancock had allowed her to come back. She spent her days living alone but came out to interact with the women who didn't know of her history.

"Elder Nyon, are you home?" Ran knocked.

The door opened to reveal an aging, squat woman with white hair. "What is it Ran?" She asked tiredly. "I just came back from the palace. Apparently keeping that foolish girl from going to see Luffy has now become a full-time job. I was only able to leave when she finally agreed to refrain from seeing him, _again_."

"I'm sorry." Ran bowed her head respectfully. "But this is Luca. She has something she wants to ask you."

"Luca, hmm?" Elder Nyon turned to Luca and eyed her from head to toe. "The girl who laid waste to Admiral Akainu? There was an entire article about you in the newspaper. I know why you've come to me. You want to know about haki, do you not?"

Luca nodded. "I do."

She beckoned her in and Luca entered, Ran following. "I sent word to Black Thorn to meet me." She said and she waddled around, preparing some tea. "She knows more than I do."

"You mean you don't know about haki?"

"I know about the three types, yours however, isn't something that many people will elaborate on." Three cups of steaming tea where placed down in front of them. Luca lifted the cup to her and blew gently. "I won't be surprised if Black Thorn doesn't know much either."

"Don't come up with answers that don't have definite answers yet, Lady Gloriosa." Someone said from the doorway.

All three women turned to see a tall, gorgeous woman with long dark hair and piercing gold eyes. "Black Thorn." Ran whispered.

Black Thorn entered. "I suppose it was a good idea to come see you today." She crossed the room with such grace and elegance, one would almost think that she was the Empress instead of Hancock. She sat down next to Nyon and looked over Luca. "I suppose you're the reason why Lady Gloriosa wanted to see me?"

"I suppose. I'm Luca."

"Black Thorn. So Luca, tell me about this haki of yours."

So Luca divulged the story of how she jumped off the ship and ran into the middle of the battle and how she somehow managed to hurt Akainu without even touching him. She even included how her body tingled with warmth and the state of her mind (to her best recollection, everything that happened was kind of fuzzy.)

"Hmm…" Black Thorn leaned back thoughtfully. She closed her eyes for a moment, opened them, and spoke. "I have no idea what it is."

_You could have just said so!_ Luca thought angrily but managed to say, "thank you anyway."

The older woman held up a hand. "I have no idea what kind of haki you possess. To me, it sounds like the Color of Armaments but I have never heard of a case where that haki was used without touching someone.

"The Color of Armaments?"

"Ahh, you don't know the basics of haki?" Black Thorn stood up. "Then I request that you return here tomorrow and I shall teach you. Maybe if you understand the basics you can come to realize the nature of your own haki."

"Um, one of the Emperors, Shanks, he said that someone in the New World would want to meet me. Does that mean anything to either of you?"

Black Thorn shook her head. "It probably means that there is at least one other person with this type of haki as well. You would do well to meet with them when you arrive over there."

_Well, it won't help if I don't even know the other person's name._ Luca thought sarcastically as Black Thorn left. "Is she always like that?"

"Yep." Ran nodded. "That's why it's always so hard to meet with her." She chuckled.

"I see." Luca muttered, still somewhat irritated at Black Thorn.

"Tell me, Luca." Elder Nyon interrupted. "Have you felt another's presence since you've awakened your haki?"

"Another's presence? Um, I don't think so."

"Interesting." The older woman hopped off her chair. "Well, if that is all you may go. I am very tired and am very busy too."

"Thank you for your hospitality Elder Nyon." Ran bowed her head respectfully and pulled Luca away and out of the small hut.

Ran got the boar going again and the walked in silence towards to gate. "So you want to learn how to use haki, huh?" Ran finally broke the silence.

"I just want to know about it and why the higher-ups reacted so strongly to it." _Usually any type of reaction like that from them can't be good._ She wanted to know what was going to be in store for her down the road.

"Maybe if you're lucky, Black Thorn can give you some pointers on hand-to-hand combat." Ran said. "It goes hand in hand with the Color of Armaments."

"I suppose." Was her haki even that type of haki? All this worrying was giving her _another_ headache. _Snap out of it Luca. _She mentally told herself sternly. "But thank you for today." Luca said sincerely. She really meant it, if she had wandered around all on her own there was no doubt she would find a way to get herself in trouble.

"No problem. You're a guest here and we treat guests kindly."

_I'd hate to see what they do to unwanted guests._ Luca thought as she watched a large woman break a boulder with her bare hands. They walked in silence again until they reached the gate of the village that lead into the forest and to the camp where her crew was.

"I can't go with you. It would be breaking Princess Hebihime's orders." Ran said but she gestured to the boar. "She knows the way. Just pat her on her rump once to make her go and twice to make her stop. And gently pull her left or right ear to make her go left or right."

"Thanks." Luca gently patted the boar's rump once and she lurched forward. "See you later Ran."

-x-

Ran waved goodbye as Luca and the boar disappeared into the forest. "Give her some training and she'd make a good member of the Kuja tribe." She thought aloud. But she then remembered Princess Hebihime's hostile words toward the blue-haired girl. "But I think Princess Hebihime would turn her into stone first."

-x-

"Luuuuuucaaaaaa!" Shachi shouted with joy when their only female crew member walked back into camp with the boar. He jumped on her and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. "How was it? What was the Isle of Women like?"

"Get. Off." Luca nearly snarled as she attempted to detach his arms from around her middle.

Shachi got off, smiling sheepishly with a pink tinge on his cheeks. "What was it like?"

Luca didn't answer and busied herself with pulling supplies out of the cart. "Here." She shoved some meat into his arms. "Help me unload."

Bepo also came over to lend a hand—err, paw—and he smiled in delight when he saw the fish.

She was right. Luca smiled to herself, Bepo did like fish. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" She asked when they were done unloading the cart and she bent down and undid the straps that tethered the boar to the cart and then tied him up to a post.

"Nope." Shachi shook his head. "So?"

"So what?"

"Tell us what the Isle of Women is like!" This time, he was joined by Penguin who also wandered over.

Luca stared at them both. "You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

She smiled. "It's a place like no other."

"Oh come on, that's not fair!" Two members of the Heart Pirates howled in despair as the only female pirate stood there and laughed.

Law merely chuckled quietly, his eyes never leaving Luca's laughing figure.

-x-

**Slowly going back to longer length chapters; I try to aim for longer chapters but sometimes it can be hard, like with the last two chapters. It's easier when you don't have to go by the manga bit by bit. I think you guys also like reading long chapters; more action.**

**So? How was the chapter? I kind of like it, but I think the ending was a bit… weird? I dunno. But next chapter… we'll get to see some **_**close**_** interaction between Luca and Law.**

**Reviews make writers happy!**

**Until next time!**


	8. L: Training and Close Encounters

**Yay, another not-so-long-but-at-least-it-didn't-take-me-too-lon g update; this one was kind of hard for me to write, it just felt off to me and I had to go back and make sure things sounded right and would work out. And word kept freezing on me and I'd lose parts of the story (whoever invented the print screen key was a genius).**

**But, I've reached the fifty-review mark! Thank you so much for your kind words and supportive reviews and just saying "I love this story!" Do you think you could maybe help it reach one hundred now?**

**Another filler chapter but I hope it'll amuse you guys. It amused me while writing it.**

**Same ole' same ole'; I don't own **_One Piece_** but I do own Luca and Black Thorn.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

The next day Luca left the camp again (much to the dismay/envy of Shachi and Penguin) to return the boar and then meet with Black Thorn and to—hopefully—also figure out what kind of haki she possessed. "Aww man." Shachi moaned. "I think deep down, she's secretly enjoying watching us suffer while she goes off gallivanting with the Amazons."

"She's evil." Penguin agreed and then his voice lowered into a whisper. "She's probably a lot like the captain when it comes to fighting."

"Or even when she's not fighting." Shachi put forth. While she was forward with her emotions (usually anger or even rage or clipped tones) when she was around the captain but when she was around them, she was more civil. Then again, there was only one time when she spent quality time with them. And that was after she accepted Law's offer and became an official member of the Heart Pirates. Shachi had come up to her and said that they were having a party so she could get to know her nakama.

And then they discovered that she used to be a bartender and that she could mix drinks _really well._ And everything after that was a blur.

Well, it didn't matter. He liked Luca and he was determined to make her open up to the crew.

-x-

"Thank you Miss Luca." One of the warriors said politely as she relieved the girl of the boar.

"And thank you for letting me borrow her."

"It was all thanks to Princess Hebihime." She replied. "After all, you're the only way for us to gain information about Luffy. How is he doing, by the way?"

Luca shrugged. "He's still unconscious, it's going to be awhile before he can get back on his feet."

Her shoulders drooped. "Oh. I was looking forward to stretching him again."

It took a sheer amount of will power not to stare or laugh in disbelief, they really didn't know about devil fruits. She'd hate to see what would happen if they met other men with devil fruit powers.

The warrior also pulled out a letter from under her cloak and handed it to Luca. "Kikyou said to give this to you when you came back."

She didn't know who Kikyou was but she took it anyway. "Thanks."

"No problem." She said cheerfully and then patted the boar's rump and they ambled away into the village.

The letter, it turned out, was from Black Thorn, telling her to take one of the paths that led up into the mountains. Though she did have her doubts, she did what Black Thorn said and took one of the outer paths that led her up a steep hill. At the top there was fork in the road and an old sign that read: _Left: Arena. Right: Mountains._

_I can hazard a guess._ Luca thought sarcastically and took the left path. After nearly fifteen minutes of walking she was rewarded with an open arena. _I wonder why she lives all the way out here._ She approached the arena and jumped when a figure emerged from behind some of the boulders near the edge of the flattened area.

"Good to see you again Luca." It was Black Thorn.

"Hi." Luca greeted. Now that she finally got a good look at Black Thorn it was easier to tell that she was a good head over Luca's five-foot-seven. She had to be close to six feet tall or a couple inches over it. As for the rest of her looks, she had a lean body, no doubt from the intense training that most Kuja women go through, her dark black hair was pulled up into a stylish bun, and now that her hair was up it was easy to tell that she had an angular face. She had high cheekbones that led into a defined, soft-looking chin and a straight nose that up-turned a bit at the end.

She was very beautiful and very much on par with Hancock (even Luca had to grudgingly admit that Hancock was very pretty). Black Thorn was one of the stereotypical women that most people believed to inhabit the island.

"Now Luca." Black Thorn was saying and Luca snapped out of her thoughts. "I'm going to explain haki to you. Then we'll go through the basics and try to root out your type of haki. First." she motioned Luca to follow her into the arena and they entered it, Black Thorn walking to the far edge, and turning to face Luca who was in the middle. "There's Kenbunshoku Haki, also called the Color of Observation." Black Thorn closed her eyes. "This is the most common haki and it allows you to sense people around you. The range depends on the user but it is mainly used for predicting an opponent's next move." She opened her eyes. "Along the mountain range, there are currently forty-three women there. At the river, there are seventeen."

"You really know they're there?"

"Yes. I've trained myself to observe the entire island. Hancock tasked me with watching your crew and making sure none of the men step beyond the boundary. Yes, I know about men." She added when she saw the look on Luca's face. "I used to be a Kuja pirate before I retired to the mountains." Her lips twitched, as if she was trying to hide a smile but she continued on. "Those who are most proficient in Kenbunshoku Haki are able to sense when a life is extinguished."

"That's horrible."

"That's the price to pay for using haki." Black Thorn replied. "Now, the second haki is called Busōshoku haki, the second most common and most preferred one. The Color of Armaments allows one to defend oneself against attacks. It's like creating a shield of armor for the user and can also be used for aggressive attacks. Like creating a shield around your hand and then punching someone, not only would it land a devastating attack but it also keeps the user safe from harm. Busōshoku can also make it possible to land a physical blow on a devil fruit user."

Luca thought back to Admiral Akainu. So that was how she managed to land a solid blow. Well, there was still the mystery of how she did it without touching him.

"The last Haki is called Haōshoku. The Color of the Conquering King. And," she scowled. "The only haki I don't possess. Haōshoku is extremely rare. Only one person out of a million others has it." Her face became strained "and it's only because Hancock has it makes her the Empress. That selfish, conniving little pretty girl… Ah." She caught herself. "Never mind that."

_I sense a history between those two._ Luca quietly giggled to herself.

"Well, basically, Haōshoku works by way of intimidation. It comes out in a large burst that can knock a person with a weak will unconscious. And that's it."

"_That's it?"_ Luca asked incredulously. "All it does is knock people out?"

"Don't underestimate it. It is far more useful that you might think." She sighed. "People never realize its potential until they experience it in person." She then started walking towards Luca, "It's clear that you don't have Kenbunshoku so we won't try that type of training." She was standing in front of Luca now. "I'm going to test to see if you have Busōshoku."

"How're you going to do that?"

"Like this."

It happened too fast for Luca to see it coming. The next thing she knew, Black Thorn's fist slammed into her nose and sent her sprawling onto the ground, knocking the wind right out of her. She rolled over onto her hands and knees, gasping for air, and held a hand over her nose, it didn't feel broken but it hurt like hell. "Son of a bitch!" Luca nearly howled. "That hurt!"

It was then that she noticed that something wet was falling onto her hand and she brought it away from her nose and saw several bright red droplets. Then she realized that it hurt to even breathe through her nostrils. Oh yeah… she still had her nose stud in. Oh shit, that's why it hurt so much. When Black Thorn punched her it had made the stud stab the inside of the nostril.

Luca shakily stood up and tried to wipe away the blood, flinching when her hand came in contact with her nose. "Why did you do that?"

"I would suggest you take that out and only wear it when you can properly defend yourself." Black Thorn replied calmly as if she had flicked Luca on the nose instead of punching it.

"Right." Luca replied sarcastically but did what she suggested and gingerly managed to remove it. She slipped the stud into her pants pocket and after a moment's thought, also removed the earrings from her ears as well. Luca knew full well the dangers of wearing jewelry while fighting. Once she had gotten her belly button pierced and about a week later she got into a fight and the piercing was torn out. All that remained of that little escapade was a small white scar on her belly button.

"That's better." Black Thorn went back to business. "Obviously I was hoping that you would create a shied using Busōshoku and deflect me."

Wouldn't it have been better to start with the basics first? It was like throwing someone who couldn't swim into the calm belt and saying, "now, learn how to swim."

"Maybe we should start with the basics first." Black Thorn sighed—_You think?_ Luca though angrily—and faced Luca once more. "Alright, let's work on fighting for a bit. Show me a defensive position.

Luca did.

"Okay, your stance is a little too narrow. You want to be open enough so you can be ready to go on the defensive or the offensive with little movement. Try squaring your legs with your shoulders…"

-x-

Luca didn't know how long she was training with Black Thorn but it was well past noon when she was finally let go and she slowly made her way back to the ship. Once Black Thorn gave her an overview of how to fight hand-to-hand, she immediately started an onslaught against Luca (who could barely block her, Black Thorn was good at hand-to-hand) in hopes that she could draw out her haki.

No such luck. She didn't feel anything except pain especially when Black Thorn went for one last attack with a haki-imbued fist to the ribs. Luca flinched when pain coursed through her side, she was pretty sure she cracked a rib and any breathing at all hurt. Her nose still hurt, her side hurt, and her legs were sore.

And on top of it all, Black Thorn demanded to see Luca again tomorrow. _"I know that given time, we could draw your haki out. Though, once draw it out, it shouldn't be so difficult to do it again when you start training." _Black Thorn had said.

If tomorrow went like today did, she had half a heart to say screw haki and just let it stew there for the rest of her life. Yeah, Black Thorn was a brutal teacher.

"Luca!" Shachi called when he saw her figure approach the camp but he stopped short when he caught sight of her. "What happened to you?"

"Don't ask." She groaned.

-x-

Black Thorn sat atop a rock on the highest peak where the four Snake Mountains joined, watching the sun sink into the horizon. This was her favorite spot and her favorite time of the day as well. There was always a spectacular sunset and obviously, this was the best place to view it. But the road to the peak was long and dangerous. Only the most skilled warriors could make the climb. She was told that long ago, many warriors had to climb to the top as a rite of passage.

The sound of footsteps and heavy breathing alerted her that someone was slowly walking the path but Black Thorn didn't turn around, she merely watched the sun sink lower and lower.

"It was… cruel of you… to invite me up here." Elder Nyon wheezed. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"My apologies," Black Thorn couldn't hide her smile as the former Empress joined her on the rock. "I can't help it, the sunsets here are absolutely breathtaking."

"Ah, I remember it," Elder Nyon replied. "One of the best features of this island. When I was Empress, I used to tell the warriors to train extra hard if they wanted to see it someday. It worked too."

Both women were silent after that, merely watching the sunset deep in their thoughts until Black Thorn broke the silence. "Many women don't make the journey up here anymore."

"No?"

"Perhaps…" Black Thorn hesitated. "Perhaps they're more worried about other things now. I've heard the outside world has been thrown into turmoil."

Elder Nyon sighed. "The events at Marineford have created an unbalance in the world but it will die down soon enough."

"The unbalance isn't enough for the villagers to take notice though."

"Of course not! Amazon Lily shall remain in isolation for as long as the world exists. There is no need for them to learn about the changing times. To them, the world is merely a moment in time that passes by." Elder Nyon harrumphed.

"I'm not so sure anymore."

"How so?"

"I believe…" Black Thorn admitted. "That the day will come when outsiders will walk on this island and I fear that it will come soon."

Elder Nyon stared at the black-haired beauty before chuckling. "You would've made a great Empress. Maybe you should've been chosen instead."

Black Thorn snorted. "Please, you know why Hancock was picked, not only did she use her looks to get there but she also has the King's Disposition. "A great quality for an Empress." She mimicked but then sighed. "But she's done well when it comes to keeping the marines out of here. I've seen ships approach and then been sunk by the Kuja Pirates."

"Hmm…"

"But I've heard she's enamored with the young captain who's fighting for his life." She tilted her head in the direction of the Heart Pirates' campsite.

Elder Nyon let out a bellowing laugh. "Every Empress has gone through it! The famous love sickness. Of course, many people say that the Empress eventually dies but some had learned how to deal with the pain. I did." She smiled sadly.

"Who was he?" Black Thorn ventured. She had heard the reason that the former Empress had left was because she went chasing after the man who had captured her heart.

"A truly wonderful man." The old woman's voice cracked a bit. "A strong, handsome pirate. I remember the first time we met: in battle on the Grand Line. His first words to me were: "So the rumors are true. The women of the Isle of Women are true beauties and you, are the most beautiful." And after that, I couldn't stop thinking about him and eventually I left to find him again."

Elder Nyon sniffed at the thought and Black Thorn put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Where is he now?" She didn't want to know what had happened between them when she finally caught up to the man she loved.

"Dead recently, killed by pirates." She said simply. "But _I'll_ never forget him." She smiled as if remembering something. "Height differences be damned."

That caught Black Thorn off guard. "What?"

The Elder laughed openly, "It was something I said to one of the pirates who tried to stop me from leaving. He was much taller than me, you see. _M__uch_ taller."

The younger woman snorted with laughter and removed her arm. "You women will make up so many excuses!"

"Oh?" She smiled slyly at Black Thorn. "But I've heard that you, yourself was also struck by the love sickness… a certain red-haired Pirate Emperor?"

Black Thorn's face went red. "I don't know what you mean!" She stuttered nervously and placed her hands on her cheeks as if she could stop them from turning red. But her heart was already pounding as his face entered her mind.

Elder Nyon laughed. "See? The Empresses are not the only ones to be struck by this disease. I'm surprised you didn't act this way when Luca mentioned his name the other night."

"Ahh, it pains me to know that she was the one who saw him last." Black Thorn lamented. "He even addressed her!"

"Oh, I don't think Luca means any harm." The Elder attempted move the subject away from the pirate, lest Black Thorn become impossible talk with if she allowed herself to think more about him. "Quite possibly, I believe this sickness came from the need for the Kuja tribe to repopulate and force women to find men in order to…" She trailed off when she realized Black Thorn was sitting next to her anymore.

Instead, she was standing near the edge, hands still on her cheeks but her face was even redder than it was. "Bear his children…?" She stammered. "If he would ask it of me then…" All sorts of images raced through her head and her face got even hotter.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" Elder Nyon shouted.

"Ah?" Black Thorn snapped out of it. "What?"

"I swear…" The Elder grumbled. "You and Hancock are so much alike when it comes to men." Put both of those women in the presence of the men they loved and they would both melt into simpering, stammering, blushing women. It was quite astounding.

Black Thorn cleared her throat, trying to move past the subject of men. "I'm sorry, I really meant to discuss Luca's haki with you."

"Still can't figure out what it is?"

"No." The woman frowned. "Since I haven't seen it yet I still can't speculate what its nature is. But I can feel glimmers of it if I try really hard." It was there, it was just hard to draw out. "I'm really not the person for this."

"You're the best we have. Anyone who knows more about haki is too far away."

"I see…" She trailed off and looked to the sun again. It was close to being set completely. "Then I shall retire for the night. Might I accompany you back down esteemed Elder?"

The elderly woman chuckled, "I think I shall stay out her a little while longer. I may be old but I'm not too old to be considered helpless."

Black Thorn bowed respectfully. "Then good night, Elder."

"Good night Black Thorn."

The taller woman gracefully strode away and out of the shadows, a dark blue snake appeared and slithered after her. Elder Nyon chuckled a bit. "Youth nowadays. I remember…"

The former Empress of Amazon Lily fell silent again, remembering the days when she was young and the days when she had been just like Black Thorn and Hancock and fell in love. It still hurt though, to think about him not being alive anymore.

Elder Nyon solemnly watched the sun sink further and further until it sank completely and it nearly felt like the world itself was disappearing. And in some way it was true, the last battle had given way to a new age. An age where fate would become an active member again.

And all she could do was pray for those caught in fate's web and hope they would be strong enough to play their roles.

-x-

Luca stared morosely at herself in the mirror, if she could sum herself up in four words it would be: she looked like hell. Her nose had turned itself into one big sore. It still hurt to breathe, she could feel dried blood on the inside of her nostril and it had turned a dark shade of brown, and it would probably be purple by the end of the week.

Her ribs, on the other hand, were in no better shape. Along with the pain (of breathing still) her entire right side was an even bigger bruise. Yesterday it was yellow, today it was that lovely green/purple mixture. And, of course, Black Thorn hadn't helped today either, all she had Luca do was practice hand-to-hand with Black Thorn attacking her in hopes of drawing out the haki.

And she had no such luck, Luca didn't get one step closer to figuring out the mystery but at least she was learning some decent moves, however marginally. _If she can call 'mercilessly attacking me' training._ Luca thought angrily. So far, she wasn't seeing any results though Black Thorn had told her she would understand the reason when the time came.

Oh well, Luca walked out of the bathroom and headed for her room but at least so far she had managed to avoid Law (after all, the last time he had helped her with a medical issue he drugged and kidnapped her) but Shachi had worriedly asked her what happened and she just told him that she wasn't doing anything dangerous.

He didn't look convinced when she told him, though. From a stranger's standpoint it probably looked like someone had mugged her or something.

"Am I to assume that this is the result from your outings these last two days?" Law's voice cut through Luca's thoughts and she jumped on reflex, pain flaring through her side. He was standing opposite her. Clearly, he was waiting for her to emerge from the bathroom.

"It's nothing." She replied.

"Doesn't look like nothing." He replied and walked closer to her.

"I'm fine!" She nearly snapped.

Law didn't say anything but he grabbed her wrist. "Come on."

She barely had anytime to protest and his iron grip on her wrist said that he wasn't letting go soon. So she allowed herself to be led into the infirmary, the place where she became quite accustomed to when she first came here. On one of the far beds, she could make out Luffy's still form, still hooked up to machines and Luca's heart wrenched at the sight.

"Look at me." Law commanded and gently turned Luca's face to face his own. He tilted her head slightly so he could get a better look at her nose. "It needs some antiseptic." He commented and gently touched it with a finger. Luca responded by nearly jerking her head back and inhaling sharply and in response Law's other hand moved to the back of her head and tightened in order to prevent her from moving.

She furiously avoided even looking at him, trying to look at the wall behind him. She didn't like being so close to him. He tilted her again even more in order to look at the damage to her nostril as well. "That also needs tending." He released her and she instinctively took a couple steps back. Law smirked. "I'm not going to eat you."

"Well excuse me for being nervous." She shot back. "If I recall, the last time you fixed a wound of mine you drugged me."

He merely chuckled and walked over to a cabinet and pulled out some ointment, a rag, and a small, flat metal stick-looking thing. Then he went over to a sink and moistened the rag. "This might sting a little." He pressed the ointment and metal stick into Luca's hands and once again grasped the back of her head, pulling her closer to him. Gently, he wiped away some of the dried blood that had crusted in the opening of her nostril. "You should have come to me yesterday. If you had let this go unattended, an infection might have set in or worse."

"I know." She muttered, still looking anywhere but at him. She hated it when he made good points.

God he was so close to her. She could feel his breath on her neck and her body broke out into a light sweat. Law finished with the rag and he tossed it onto one of the beds behind them and took the ointment and metal stick out of her hand. He squirted some ointment onto his finger and gently rubbed it onto her nose. It stung a bit and Luca bit down on the inside of her cheek slightly. "It's going to be awhile before that bruise heals up."

"It's not like I haven't had a punch to the face before." She remembered that lovely black eye Seesa gave her a couple years back.

Then he squirted some more ointment onto the stick. "Hold still." He commanded again and tilted her head back and inserted the stick into her nose and swabbed it around.

She had to hold in the urge to sneeze and scrunch her nose and the feeling of the cold metal but the ointment hurt more than the first time and her eyes watered a bit too. "Almost done." His voice was soft and she blinked, staring up at the ceiling. "There." He pulled away and Luca gingerly reached up to touch her nose but Law's hand quickly struck out and caught her wrist. "Let it set." He warned.

"Fine." Luca turned away with a huff but the sudden breath made her side hurt and she winced again.

"What is it?" His voice was cool and amused but also alert.

"Nothing." She defended.

"Luca." He said with a tone that said 'don't lie'.

"I might have been punched in the ribs." She finally confessed.

"Which side?"

"It doesn't matter, it's just a bruise." Luca waved her hand in a dismissal-like way.

Law responded by grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around staring at her directly in the eyes. His ever present small smile was gone. "Don't try this with me." He threatened.

His eyes were almost looked like a dark teal but maybe they were a blackish color that looked somewhat blue in the light, she couldn't tell because his hat was shadowing his eyes. But either way, they had a certain charm to them, almost mesmerizing even and a shiver went down her back. "Right side." She said.

He smirked slightly. "Lift up your shirt."

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. _"What?"_

"You heard me. Lift it up or take it off."

After a small internal battle, she grudgingly lifted up her shirt to reveal the large bruise that covered her right side. Law frowned for a moment. "Were you punched multiple times?"

"More like a haki-imbued fist to the ribs."

"I see." He said and bent slightly and prodded the bruise with one finger. Pain flared again and she yelped. "Hmm…" Now his entire hand was on her side and he gently moved it around, feeling the tender skin.

Well, this was awkward. Screw having him close to her face, his head was practically level with her chest. Was it just her or was the room getting hot? And why was he moving his hand like that? He was doing it in a soft, stroking motion and since her skin was sensitive right now she could feel every touch of his long, smooth fingers and…

Did he have a heater on in here? She was boiling now.

"Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any fractures or breaks, just severely bruised. You should take it easy for the next few days." Law was saying.

"Huh?" Luca nearly stammered. "Oh, okay." She was now very aware of her reddening face.

He smirked. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" His hand trailed upwards and lightly brushed her upper arm causing her to break out in goose bumps.

Was his face getting close to her? She was freaking out too much to tell but she did notice when his fingers lightly caressed her neck. He touched a spot that was near the base of the neck but closer to the back of her shoulder (one of her sensitive spots) and she inadvertently let a mewl escape from her throat.

-x-

What's this? Law grinned slyly. Did he stumble upon on her pleasure spots? "Sensitive?" He teased.

_Oh God, did he…?_ Luca's face burned with embarrassment, "I've gotta go." She broke away from him and practically ran from the room.

Law had never seen her move so fast. "Luca, Luca, Luca…" He chuckled, "I'm going to have so much fun with you."

-x-

_Oh my God, what the hell was that back there?_ Luca thought frantically as she paced back and forth in her room. _Was I… Did I… just get turned on by that?_ Even now, thinking about that little episode made her feel hot and tingly. "Holy shit." Was the only thing she could even say.

_Oh no, no-no-no-no-no. I was not turned on by that. Nothing happened. Get it out of your head, Luca._ But as she tried to banish all thoughts of Law out of her hand, his face kept popping back up. The time just now in the infirmary, watching her when she had been shot, leaning against the tree root, and even when he cornered her in her bedroom. _Oh. My. God. What the hell is happening to me?_ Luca snatched a pillow off of her bed and promptly screamed into it as loudly as she could.

"Okay, I feel better now." She said when she emerged from her pillow.

"Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. Now, I'm going to pretend that that never happened. End of story." She tried convincing herself but paled when she remembered his touch on her neck. Fuck, he discovered one of her vulnerable spots (and she knew that well, her last boyfriend had exploited it a couple times before).

A blush rose to her cheeks when she thought of things Law would do now that he knew. She was in deep shit.

-x-

"I think that the both of us now that your haki won't manifest in the time that you're here." Black Thorn spoke. "And now that I've had more time to think, I think it would be best if we stopped for a while."

Luca almost grinned out of relief. "Okay. My Captain said I should take it easy anyway." Thank God, she could go back to camp and take a long nap or soak in the bath to soothe her sore muscles. But now she had to find something else to do with herself for the next couple of days.

"In three days' time, I'd like you to meet me here again. I'll treat you to one of the village's hot springs." She smiled kindly at Luca. "It'll be good for you."

"Oh, that sounds… nice."

"Good, I'll see you then." With that, Black Thorn strode away but she stopped and turned around. "Oh, and Luca?"

"What?"

She stared at the younger girl for a moment before speaking. "You're too young for him." And after those puzzling words, the black-haired women disappeared from view.

Luca stood there, puzzled and said, "too young for whom?"

-x-

Miles away, in the New World a certain red-haired pirate sneezed for the third time that day.

-x-

**Couldn't resist putting that last line there. I hope it was a good filler chapter because I know how most people will view filler. But I promise that things will start rolling in a rolling-down-a-small-hill-that-will-lead-to-more-s maller-hills-and-then-a-big-hill next chapter. Anyone who can comprehend that, I'll give you a virtual cookie.**

**So now I have to pop the question. What opinions do you have on lemons and limes? I just want to know what most of you think about having some in the future. Already (thanks to my dirty mind) I've thought up different lemon and lime scenarios for both Luca and Cayenne. So, should there be limes and lemons in the future? Tell me your thoughts on it, please.**

**So who's ready for the return of **_One Piece_**? I know I am!**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, a lot. Flames are not.**

**Until next time and now I shall go to bed.**


	9. L: Life Goes On

**Hello my dear readers! And Happy Birthday to Law! **_Anga_** so wonderfully pointed out that today is Law's birthday and I'm very happy to have finished this in time.**

**It's another short one but it's the last of the filler chapters. And as usual, I don't own **_One Piece_** I only own Luca.**

**P.S. Be prepared for angst ahead, **_necessary _**angst though.**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

The next week and a half passed by without incident, Luca had only left again when she met Black Thorn again to take her up on the hot spring offer (and she was right, that hot spring did wonders for her sore muscles.) The rest of the time she spent lounging around the ship usually with Bepo or occasionally Shachi (at his insistence) and avoiding Law as much as she could (her face still burned at the thought of what happened in the infirmary.)

Of course, she really wasn't able to avoid him. Law's seemingly favorite crew member was Bepo and was around the bear constantly. She even found him using a sleeping Bepo for a pillow before (that was an awkward and weird situation.) Of course, every time she came across Law he would smirk at her knowingly and she'd glare back with red cheeks.

And other than that, no incidents to report but her nose and ribs were feeling a lot better, thank you very much.

That was, until Luffy woke up.

-x-

It was midway through the morning and Luca was sitting on the edge of the cliff that dropped down to the water, watching the small, brightly colored fish swim around. Until she heard the loud banging of a door opening and a voice bellowed, "AAAAAACE!"

_Luffy's awake!_ Luca thought as she bolted up and turned towards the ship. The poor boy looked like hell and was running away from them. With all the moving that he was doing, his wounds had started to reopen, staining the white bandages red. "ACE!" Luffy shouted desperately. "Where's Ace?"

"Straw Hat calm down!" Members of the crew pleaded. "Fire Fist is…"

"He's completely beyond our control!" Shachi wailed as Luffy moved past them all and headed for the forest. "Straw Hat, please stooooop!"

Luca stared worriedly for a moment but the headed after him. "Luuuuca!" Shachi wailed when he saw her leave too.

"I know this area better than you." Luca reassured him. "I'll bring him back."

And before anyone else could protest, Luca had disappeared into the forest after the berserk captain.

-x-

It wasn't too difficult to find him, the boy was making so much sound and destroying everything in his path that she was surprised that none of the Amazons were investigating the area. _They were probably ordered to keep their distance._ Luca thought vaguely as she pushed her way through the fauna.

She climbed over a fallen tree to see Monkey D. Luffy knocking down even more trees, creating a makeshift path or a scene of chaos depending on a person's state of mind at the time.

But he actually stopped and looked up at the sky. "Where am I?" He said hoarsely. "Was it really all a dream?"

It was silent except for the sounds of Luffy's heavy panting before he started screaming. "NO! Disappear, disappear… _Ace!_" He began to break even more trees while still screaming.

It broke Luca's heart to see him in so much pain. "Luf—" she started before a large hand clapped on her shoulder. She looked up to see Jinbei next to her.

"I wouldn't if I were you." he warned. "He might attack you." The large fishman climbed over the rubble and made his way over to him, Luca scrambling to follow him.

For a minute, they all were standing there in silence before Jinbei began to speak. "The war is over. Ace—"

"Don't say it!" Luffy interrupted desperately. "I already pinched my cheek hard enough to tear it off. If this was a dream… I should've woken up by now!" He sounded so desperate, trying to deny the truth, deny reality. "This isn't a dream though, isn't it?" His voice cracked. Luffy looked up, tears cascading down his cheeks. "Ace… really did die, didn't he?" He sobbed.

All Luca could do was watch in sadness as Jinbei confirmed it and Luffy cried even harder.

-x-

It seemed to be an unspoken mutual agreement between Jinbei and Luca to let Luffy cry for a few minutes, to mourn for his brother. "Yeah right… Pirate King?" Luffy finally spoke between sobs. _"I'm weak!"_

Luca glanced at Jinbei who also looked a little perturbed.

"I can't protect a single thing!" Luffy continued to cry.

"Luffy." Jinbei spoke but Luffy cut him off.

"Go away, leave me alone!"

Jinbei spoke calmly. "I cannot do that, and I cannot just stand by and watch you injure yourself even further."

"It's my body, I can do whatever I want with it!" He screamed back.

Before Jinbei could speak again, Luca placed a hand on his sleeve, stopping him. "Let me." She murmured and walked towards Luffy.

"Luca, I would not suggest it." Jinbei warned.

"It's okay." Luca said, more to Luffy than to Jinbei. She knelt down and placed a hand on Luffy's injured shoulder. "It's okay." She soothed.

The boy's head snapped up to see Luca's face (albeit a bit battered and bruised) smiling sympathetically at him. "Go away." He spoke dangerously.

"I know how it feels." She ignored him. "I've lost someone I loved too."

"You don't know!"

"I do." She continued and already she could feel the tears welling up as she thought back. "When I was younger… my parents separated and I went with my Mom. We hopped from island to island together, looking for a place to call home. It was a long journey but we eventually wound up in Saobaody, I was twelve then."

He looked a little lost but she continued. "My Mom was like my best friend to me, she always knew what to say to make me feel better, she always knew what to say in any situation, really. But one day… when I was fifteen…" The tears began to overflow. "She went out one day… and she didn't come back. I looked everywhere, every single shop. I even went to _that_ place and nearly got myself killed trying to find her. But she was gone. I nearly lost it, knowing that I would never see her again, that she was gone."

Now he looked like he understood. "My mom died that day she disappeared, my _real_ mom, the woman who would wait for me to come home every day, with a smile on her face and a batch of cookies in her hands. But I promise you, Luffy, the pain will fade, you will be able to face yourself. Not a day will go by when I don't think about her but it doesn't hurt anymore. That day will come for you too, when you can remember Ace and you don't feel the pain. Don't make Ace sad to see you like this, okay?"

Luffy looked lost for a moment but then his face scrunched up and he started to sob hysterically. "I can't!" He wailed. "I miss him so much!"

He buried his face into her chest and sobbed even more. Luca slowly sank down to her knees and began to stroke his hair comfortingly. "It's okay, Luffy, it's okay to cry."

-x-

Jinbei watched in silence, had this girl managed to bring some sort of reassurance to Luffy's heart? But as he continued to watch, he couldn't help but feel remorse for her. She had lost her own mother to one of the oldest and cruelest practices in the world and he knew that better than anyone. He had seen countless members of his own species who carried scars from it, some who would never be able to swim again due to their fins being cut off. He had even met a mermaid whose tail fin had been mangled beyond recognition.

-x-

Luca still continued to comfort the boy. "Luffy…" She murmured. "Do you think Ace would be happy to see his little brother like this?"

He froze and pulled away, his eyes were red and puffy from crying and there was snot running down his chin. "What?"

"I'm sure Ace wouldn't want to see you cry like this, he would want you to live on, not just for yourself but for him as well, don't make him sad to see that his little brother can't move on without him. You carry the Spirit of D, don't you? Aren't you supposed to bear everything with a smile?" She grinned at him.

Luffy stared for a moment but a tiny smile appeared on his face. "You make no sense." He nearly choked out.

She laughed quietly. "I'm sorry, but you smiled, didn't you? You haven't lost everything. Ace wasn't your only world, was he?"

Her words dawned on him. "I have my nakama!" The tears returned and he became a blubbering mass again. "Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brooke! I still have them!"

"Yeah… They're still your family, right?" She said quietly. _Family… "Luca, join us! We're celebrating your joining the crew!"_

"_You're our nakama now!"_

"_KANPAI!"_

"We have a meeting spot." Luffy said and he sat down. "I have to get there…"

Their conversation was over now, he would be alright now. She stood up and walked over to Jinbei. "He's going to okay now." She said quietly. "I'm going back to my… crew now. No doubt that he's awake, Law's going to want to set sail."

"Thank you Luca." Jinbei said gratefully.

As she walked back towards the ship she heard Luffy shout. "I want to see them!"

Yes, he was going be alright.

-x-

Surprisingly, the encampment was quiet when she returned but she soon discovered why. Half the crew was standing in a circle around the drop off, most of them in a stunned silence. _What's going on?_ She thought and made her way through. Her mouth dropped open. "You!"

"Hmm?" The man was tall and broad shouldered with silver-gray hair and he had an odd beard. He turned around and grinned at her. "Long time no see!"

The crew gaped at her, stunned. She _knew_ The Dark King?

"You're the weird old man from the bar!" Luca finished. She remembered him, he was the strange man who had left a surprisingly large tip for her and later she saw him talking to Tez like they were old friends.

And their stunned faces turned into faces of disbelief, how could she not know who he was?

Instead the old man laughed. "I remember you, Luca. I should say I'm surprised you don't know who I am but Cayenne's always been secretive about the people she knows."

"Cayenne knows you?" She tilted her head and frowned. How come she never mentioned him to her?

"Sorry, I should introduce myself to you. I'm Rayleigh, but please call me Ray."

Then it clicked. _"Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh?"_ She squeaked.

"The one and only."

Oh, Cayenne's ass was _so_ hers the next time she saw her. How come Cayenne never told her that she knew Gold Roger's first mate? She felt hurt, she had told Cayenne everything about herself but now that she thought about it… She really didn't know much about Cayenne. _Doesn't she trust me?_

"Come take a walk with me." Rayleigh said kindly and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Is it all right if I borrow your subordinate for a moment?" He called back to Law.

Even Law couldn't refuse the Dark King. "We're leaving soon." He reminded them and went to the sub, "start packing up!" He ordered the rest of his crew.

The started clambering and Rayleigh steered Luca away. "How come she never told me?" She asked him quietly.

"The thing you'll notice about Cayenne, she likes to stay quiet when the subject of her past comes up. Her parents knew me and that's how she knows me."

"Cayenne never told me about her parents."

"They're good people." He said with a finality that told her that he wouldn't say anymore on the subject. "I wanted to quickly talk to you about your haki."

Her mouth went dry. "You know about it?"

"Yes, unfortunately, I don't have that type but I do know someone who does."

"Who?"

"They're in the New World." He avoided saying the actual name, "I can't say more about them but when you're in the New World, look for an eternal pose to a place called the _Perun Isle_ and you will find the Cougar there."

"The Cougar." she stated dubiously.

"Yes, Cougar is a former Pirate Warlord."

"Really?"

"One of the shortest lived Warlord, Cougar only lasted four days. But Cougar had no intention of being a Warlord for long. The Cougar is a pirate to the core."

"Uh-huh."

He sighed. "I do wish I could tell you something that would be helpful now but I can't. But be careful, the World Government does not look kindly upon this haki, mainly because the only two people who have it are both pirates."

"Wait, there're only two of us?" Luca asked, stunned.

"There was a third but no one has heard from him since Roger's death. There were rumors that he was in level six of Impel Down." He jerked his head back towards the camp. "Your captain wants to be leaving now. We should head back."

"Okay." She said and they headed back, her head was swirling with thoughts. Why were there so few people who could utilize this haki?

"You know, there's potential in every haki user to use it." Rayleigh said. "I heard someone say it was one of the two ultimate hakis that can be used but it's harder to obtain. After all, there might be more but you three are the most famously known. Ah, I don't know if this'll work but try envisioning pushing something away with your mind when you're ready to try your haki again. That works for most haki users."

"I'll remember that." She murmured.

They arrived back at the campsite and Rayleigh was right, everything was packed and the crew was lounging around.

"There you are." Law spoke when he spotted her. "We're leaving now."

"Right."

"Ah Luca." Rayleigh said and she turned to him, he was holding a small slip of paper in his hands. "This is for you, in case you ever need to find me, I'll be willing to help."

It was a vivre card, _Rayleigh's_ vivre card. "Why?" She asked in surprise, but still took it anyway.

He roared with laughter. "A friend of Cayenne's is a friend of mine. Besides, I met with Tez the other day and he was frantic to know what happened to you after you encountered Akainu. I told him I'd look after you if I found you and this is my way of keeping my promise."

"Thanks." She said gratefully. "Can you tell Tez that I'm sorry? And I didn't mean to worry him either."

He laughed again. "I will, don't worry." And he _hugged_ her.

He's hugging her! The Dark King is hugging her! Nearly the entire crew thought at the same time.

"Take care." He whispered in her ear as he let go of her. "Remember Perun Isle." When he let go he addressed Law. "Take care in the New World."

Law merely nodded and motioned for the crew to assume their positions. Luca joined them and the door shut with a 'snap' and then the ship lurched forward out to sea.

"We were so close to seeing the women!" Shachi complained.

"It's not fair." Penguin joined in.

"I wish there were bears." Bepo said.

"SHUT UP!"

"HEY!" Luca reprimanded. "Besides, you would have found most of those women wouldn't be of the type you're looking for." She now knew why they didn't want men, oh those poor women if they ever came across any more men. But she would find it to be absolutely hilarious to watch them attempt to stretch the men they did meet.

"I wonder what the Dark King has in store for him." Law spoke from his spot against the wall. "_D_ will surely cause a storm again."

"I know he will." She smiled. "I can't to meet him again."

Law frowned when she mentioned Luffy so casually. "He's going to be an enemy the next time we meet." He reminded her.

"I know and that's why I can't wait."

"You're weird." Shachi told her.

"I'm sure most women will continue to elude you."

"Hey!"

-x-

Later that day, Law cornered Luca in the hall. "What did he say to you?"

"Ray-?" She asked innocently.

"Yes."

She pondered for a moment. "Well, he gave me a goal."

"A goal?"

"Yeah, we have to reach Perun Isle in the New World."

"What?"

She smiled. "I know, so, Trafalgar Law," she fully turned to face him. "I'm fully accepting my duties as a Heart Pirate. Let's have a fun voyage together."

-x-

He chuckled. "You do know that the New World is going to be extremely dangerous?"

"Yeah, I know that. But I have an ace up my sleeve."

No doubt she referring to her hak. Luca brushed past Law and walked towards the end of the hall. "Then, _Captain,_ shall we proceed for Fishman Island?"

She didn't wait for an answer and vanished around the corner. Law stared at where she was for a moment before smirking evilly. Oh he knew what he was going to do now.

Fishman Island could wait now.

-x-

Admiral Akainu, the Red Dog, stalked through the hallway of Mariejois. Not only was he bitter about the outcome of the war. The son of Dragon had escaped and they almost had another Emperor and that slime Blackbeard within their grasp. Not to mention that girl, a no-name pirate, who had managed to land the hardest hit on him that he had felt in a long time.

It angered him beyond belief. Once he was on his feet again he had immediately nominated her to receive a bounty but they couldn't make an official bounty until they found out her name. He already had the Marine Photography Branch Captain on that case.

But he wouldn't stop until he brought her to justice. Any more of those haki users loose in the world would bring disaster to the balance of powers, the marines couldn't afford it. If he had to bring this up with the Five Elders to make her a priority, he would.

Whoever this girl was, she had just made a very powerful enemy.

-x-

**Dun, dun, dun!**

**Not much to say about this one, so yeah.**

**Now, addressing the lime and lemon issue; there is a slim chance for a lime or two later in the future but no lemons. However, I am willing to create a side story (that will not appear here, it will be a story by itself) that features a lime and lemon for the two pairings. Oddly enough, Luca and Law's lime is already completed… kind of. But I'm not sure about actually posting it. (You know, it could just sit in my hard drive forever, only for me to see. Hehe)**

**Alrighty, Cayenne's making her appearance again next chapter for all who missed her! So we say bye-bye to Luca and Law for now. **

**Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated, flames are not.**

**Until next time!**


	10. Around the World

**New chapter! I finished my last exam today so I decided to edit and post this as a celebration for getting through my first semester of college. It's a bit of a filler chapter but it next chapter is when the ball gets rolling, I promise. And we've seen parts of Fishman Island so, I can plow right ahead with the future chapters.**

**Onwards!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

_The Grand Line…_

She was right after all. Monkey D. Luffy was back and kicking. Already he had rubbed salt in the World Government's wounds and they had only left Amazon Lily three days ago. Granted, Luffy was probably able to leave the Calm Belt much more easily than they were able to. They had spent more than half a day dodging Sea Kings left and right. Right now they were making their way back to the Red Line while tending to some damage the hull sustained when avoiding the large Sea Kings.

But at least they were traveling on the surface instead of under the water. Luca didn't like traveling underwater too much, it made her feel slightly claustrophobic. Most of the crew was attending to the problems on the hull, while Law was using a sleeping Bepo as a pillow to lounge against. Luca was closer to the door and her elbows propped up on the railing as she read the newspaper.

She couldn't help but smile at the report of Luffy's recent doings. He, Rayleigh, and Jinbei hijacked a Marine ship and circled Marineford (a ritual for burial at sea), then they even entered the plaza and Luffy rang the Ox Bell sixteen times. Ringing the Ox Bell was a sign for the ending of the year and the beginning of a new one. Though it wasn't New Year's yet, Luca suspected Luffy was saying that one age was ending and a new one was beginning. And it was true, the last era was called The Age of Piracy but in the recent years most people called it The Age of Whitebeard as Whitebeard was the most powerful pirate in the world. Now that he was dead, it was time for the New Age to begin.

_I guess it's appropriate. _She thought. _Roger's death brought an age of piracy and now Whitebeard's death is going to bring an even bigger age for pirates._ Nothing was ever going to be the same anymore. But she left those musings behind and kept reading and she smiled again when she read that Luffy had also performed a silent prayer for those who had fallen in battle.

_Only a few days after you get back on your feet, you're already causing havoc._ Luca let out a laugh. "He amuses you that much?" Law spoke from his place on the deck.

She folded up the paper and walked over to him, dropping the newspaper on his lap. "You read it?"

"Of course I did." He replied.

Luca returned to the railing and looked out at the sea. "I thought you wanted Luffy take it easy the next few days, after all, he nearly reopened all of his wounds before we left."

Law chuckled. "He's not in my hands anymore, besides I knew he was going to create a storm sooner or later."

"Well aren't you smug now?" She couldn't help teasing him. The news of Luffy's recent doings had put her in a good mood. It was nice to see that he wasn't weeping over his brother's death still.

-x-

He smirked at her and Shachi looked between them, back and forth. Were they being civil to each other? He yanked on Penguin's jacket sleeve frantically. "Look!" He whispered and pointed.

Penguin looked over in disinterest at Law and Luca, "what?" He asked, exasperated at Shachi's apparent obsession with their only female nakama.

"They're getting along!"

Penguin didn't see why this was considered something noteworthy. Luca and Law had their moments since they came back from Marineford. She wasn't shouting at Law every time she saw him since she finally agreed to be a part of the crew, so why was this such a major breakthrough? "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this obsession with finding discoveries about Luca is because you like her."

Shachi didn't reply. Instead, his cheeks turned pink. "Holy shit, you _do_ like her." Penguin whispered harshly.

"She's cute!" He defended.

"It doesn't matter!" Penguin hissed back, making sure to keep his voice down. "The only one here who's got a liable claim on her is Bepo!"

At that little fact, the both of them became sullen at the thought of the large polar bear. It was true though, any woman that came across Bepo who had a love for soft, cuddly things or bears would instantly fawn over him making the rest of the crew (sans Law) feel unwanted. That even held true for Luca as well because after she finally joined, she always kept telling them off for being mean to the bear.

Indeed, Luca had been taken by that bear's charm too. How did he do it?

-x-

Another fifteen minutes passed by, Luca was had gone from staring at the ocean to inspecting and cleaning dirt from her nails and cracking her knuckles while furtively glancing at Bepo and giving Law a disapproving look for using the bear as his personal pillow. But deep down, she was jealous that he had gotten to use Bepo for a pillow first.

Damn, why did Bepo's fur have to be so soft?

-x-

"Wait, wait, Captain! What are you saying?" Shachi nearly cried when Law replied to his question about the New World. "You don't want to sail for the New World?"

_Whaaaat?_ Instantly, everyone crowded around Law, Luca still at her place by the railing but she listened intently. "I'm waiting for the right time." He said simply. "One Piece isn't going anywhere. Besides, look how that Blackbeard group is going wild over there. Those who want to butt heads and kill each other for all I care. I'm not going to join a stupid fight like that. _Now shut up and follow my orders._"

Apparently, Law was a good speech maker because the entirely crew joyfully rejoiced at his words and immediately went back to work. However, Luca approached him, her hands on her hips. "You're doing this on purpose." She growled quietly.

Law smiled at her. "I don't know what you mean."

She scowled. "You did it to irritate me because I wanted to get to the New World."

"That's an interesting theory."

Luca wanted to argue more but she was beginning to see that there really wasn't a point with trying to argue with him, he would win and be highly amused while doing it too. "As long as we don't wait _too_ long." She relented and walked away.

Law's smirk faltered a bit, while he enjoyed getting under her skin, but when she doesn't try to argue, it wasn't as satisfying. Oh well, they still had a long voyage together. There would be more chances, _many_ chances.

-x-

_Marineford…_

"You're so lucky Coby." Helmeppo was saying as Garp's two apprentices walked down the halls of the damaged Marineford. "Right now you're in the lead for the next promotion. Surely the higher-ups are going to keep an eye on you from now on. Maybe you'll become an Ensign!"

Coby was silent. His thoughts had been turning nonstop since he woke up in the hospital. It had been interesting when the doctor told him about his new haki ability. Sure it was only Kenbunshoku haki, the most common of the trio but he had his hesitations, what would become of him once he moved up in the ranks? The war had showed to him how many of the higher ranking officers had allowed themselves to become corrup. Admiral Akainu included.

At the thought of Admiral Akainu, Coby's stomach tightened. He had heard that he was on the rampage now, searching ruthlessly for any information on Luca so he could put a bounty on her head.

Luca… Though he only saw her for a second, he knew instantly it was her. Her hair was now blue instead of the blonde color that he remembered and in the dismal light, her brown eyes were darker but he knew it was her. After all, she lived down the road from him and they used to be friends. But what was she doing with Trafalgar Law? Had she become a pirate?

-x-

"_Luca!" A seven year old Coby ran towards an eleven year old girl with her back to him._

_She turned around to reveal a small girl wearing a pair of white shorts and a green t-shirt with long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her brown eyes lit up at the sight of the pink haired boy. "Coby!" She greeted warmly._

"_Did you see the paper?" He asked breathlessly, hoping that she would think the redness on his cheeks were from running. "Pirates attacked the island next to us!"_

_Her eyes darkened a bit. "They did?" She didn't look too worried but she did have a tone to her voice that pointed out that she wasn't happy about the news._

"_Yeah." He nodded rapidly. "Do you think they could attack us next?"_

"_It's hard to say." She replied. "We're not the only village on this island."_

"_One day," Coby opted to talk about the one thing that could always amuse her. "When I'm a Marine, I'm going to catch every single one of those pirates!"_

_Instead of teasing him like she normally did, she didn't say anything immediately. "Every single one of them?" She asked curiously. "You do know that there're a lot of pirates out there, right? And a lot of them are stronger than you can imagine."_

_Since when did she know a lot about pirates? "I'm not going to give up! I'll catch every single one of them and bring them to justice!"_

_This time she laughed. "Well then, Admiral Coby." She jokingly saluted him. "I hope you'll have a grand time catching all of those nasty pirates!"_

"_You could join me!" He said quickly, his heart hammering. Would she join him in the Marines too?_

_Luca pondered for a moment but then laughed. "I think being a pirate would be a lot more fun." She winked at him. "Then you could chase me all over the world!" And with that, she ran away laughing._

_Coby stared after her, his face turning beet red, what did she mean by that?_

_And would she really become a pirate?_

-x-

There had only been a couple times after that when she mentioned becoming a pirate, but then she moved away with her mom when her parents split up and as he grew older, he kept wondering whether or not she would become a pirate. Now he knew that when she told him that he could chase her all over the world she was harmlessly flirting with him in the way that kids did.

But even if she did, he would never have thought that she would join up with the likes of Trafalgar Law. He had read the reports of what he had done and he didn't like them, nor did he like the look of Law. But should he reveal what he knew about Luca to his superiors? They would greatly appreciate it if he told them her name and where she was from, then they could get the bounty on her but did he want to?

No, he didn't. He heard stories about Admiral Akainu's wrath when it came to pirates who escaped him, the reason why he probably now despised Luca. No, he wanted to be the one to find her and ask her why she went down the path of a pirate. She was a childhood friend and she owed it to him to give him an explanation before he could decide to bring her to justice or not. _True_ justice, _fair _justice. He wouldn't let Luca be executed. Perhaps he could… He trailed off at that thought. That was a possibility but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

For now, he was determined to get stronger so he could meet her on equal grounds without the threat of his superiors looming over him.

-x-

_An Island in the New World…_

Cayenne lounged against a tree lost in thought as she absent-mindedly chewed on her lip. She was finally here, in the New World. They had passed through Fishman Island quickly, Kid had no reason to linger there and she didn't have time to adjust or prepare herself for the journey ahead. While she had been happy and relieved to finally leave Sabaody she couldn't ignore the nagging in the back of her mind forever.

Was she ready for this world? Yes, she considered herself to be a decent fighter (she had a reputation back at the archipelago) and still… She knew the reputation that the New World held, she had been told by pirates who had fled back to the Grand Line (it was called Paradise in the New World) about the horrors of this place. Any notable pirate had a bounty of a hundred million or more here. And she didn't have even one million beri on her head.

_You can survive this, you can become stronger. Remember who your parents are Cayenne. I have their blood running through my veins. _She recalled her parents wanted posters (the only pictures she had of them) and instantly felt better. If they could create their own place in history then she could too. For Christ's sake, she was a part of Eustass "Captain" Kid's, the Supernova with the highest bounty, crew!

Though she didn't like it, she would have to take it day by day. There was nothing that she could predict in this sea. Cayenne stretched lightly and started to make her way back to where Kid and everyone else was camped out while they were waiting for the log pose to reset so they could sail for the next island. When they had landed on this one, Kid had complained that there weren't any villages of any kind (in short: no booze) just a small outpost where they subsequently came across a small pirate crew that was about to set sail for the Grand Line and they immediately captured said crew.

After that, the newspaper came along with the news about Monkey D. Luffy and the Ox Bell. Cayenne had her fair share of chuckles before handing it off to Kid and walking off in order to have some alone time to herself. It was hard to get a moment alone when you were on a ship with a bunch of people. Granted Kidd's ship wasn't small but still… She couldn't help but vaguely wonder what was in store for them down the road, deep in the bowels of the New World. _No doubt that the three remaining Emperors are here. It's going to be an interesting journey._ But somewhere, deep inside her, a tingly rush of excitement was spreading through Cayenne.

-x-

Thankfully, the island wasn't inhabited with dangerous creatures and Cayenne was able to easily stroll back to their little encampment. She inwardly flinched at the thought of Kid getting too bored while waiting for the log pose to reset and silently prayed that the time it took would be a short one.

By the time she got to the clearing a strong smell assaulted her nostrils and she came to a complete stop when she saw the source of the smell. Her jaw dropped slightly at the sight and Kid's maniacal laughing reached her ears.

There were corpses. Corpses of the pirates from that small crew and they had all been crucified with various metal parts. She instantly knew that Kid had been the one to do it, who else could string up someone and impale them with screws and swords? Her eyes fell on her laughing Captain and she strode up to him.

"What the hell did you do?" She demanded. Her tone was curt but there were hints of fury as well.

Kid stopped laughing. "What?" He leered at her. "Are you upset," he nonchalantly gestured to the corpses, "by this?"

"There was no reason to _kill_ them." she hissed. "Why not let them go back to the Grand Line?"

At this, he tilted his head back and roared with laughter. "Pirates who are too weak to sail this ocean don't deserve to live! I won't let anyone who cannot survive cross my path and walk away with their lives."

Cayenne let out a forced, biting laugh. Could Kid really be this insane? "And _this_," she also gestured to the carnage, "is an acceptable punishment?" When Cayenne was close to anger she did not shout. She merely talked lowly with the dangerous hints of fury waiting to erupt.

Kidd merely leered at her. "Maybe I should've tortured them more. Would that have been a more _acceptable punishment_ for these low-life pirates?"

He was taunting her and it made her blood boil. "You—" she started to hiss at him before Killer put a hand on her shoulder.

"Leave it." He said. "Captain Kidd is the—"

She turned on him, her eyes murderous. _"Don't touch me."_ She said in a deadly voice.

-x-

Killer withdrew his hand and Cayenne slowly turned from him to Kid but didn't say anything. She just brushed past him and walked back towards the ship. When she had disappeared Kid left out a bark of laughter. "She's got balls!" He didn't look angry that she had challenged him. Instead he looked pleased, pleased that his newest crew member wasn't so different from any member of his crew. Still laughing, Kid also walked back to his ship.

Killer merely stood there, staring at his hand, the hand that had touched Cayenne's shoulder. The way she _looked_ at him… It had immediately set him on edge, he had never seen that look in a person before and it was at that moment he knew…

…Out of everyone in the crew here, she was the one who was the most capable of murder in cold blood. Even more so than Captain Kid and he had seen Kid at his absolute worst and that, subsequently, made her the most dangerous.

A shiver passed through him. She might not be strong now but after some time in the New World, she could very well rival himself and Kid in terms of power and cunning.

He'd better make sure that she was wholly allied with them before that happened.

-x-

**And that concludes Chapter Ten. And yes, next arc is Cayenne's so the people that missed her can have something to be happy about.**

**I don't own **_One Piece_** but I do own Luca and Cayenne. Reviews and constructive criticism are **_**greatly **_**appreciated, flames, however, are **_**not.**_

**Happy Holidays and see ya in Chapter Eleven!**


	11. C: The New World

**Oh wow, first off I must apologize for taking so long with this chapter. You all have been so anxious to see Cayenne again and I take almost a year before posting again. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, I ran into a lot of writer's block when coming up with an arc for Cayenne. I have most of the kinks out now, hopefully.**

**Plus, I was still waiting for the manga to progress enough to learn more about the new world but since the SHP are still in Fishman Island I figure I might as well get on with it, hence why we're still using a log pose. It will be rectified the moment we learn the new way of navigation.**

**All you recognize from One Piece belongs to Oda, all you don't belongs to me.**

**Enjoy chapter eleven!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

It had taken nearly two days for the log pose to reset and lock onto the next island and Cayenne couldn't be any happier when they finally set sail. For those two days she merely sulked (she tried hard not to think about it in that way) while shooting Kid dark looks whenever they were in the same room together. She didn't speak much to the crew as well and whenever someone did try and talk to her she looked at them so murderously that they would scurry away, muttering about something else to do and they wouldn't bother her again.

To make matters worse, Kid didn't do anything about the bodies that were still crucified just outside of the ship. And after two days… well, most people were using sheets, scarves, and whatever they could tie around their mouths and noses to dampen to stench that would assault their nostrils every time they went outside. The last time Cayenne was outside, she noticed that the poor men had attracted the wild life, meaning the scavengers. She was thankful that she had a stronger stomach than most people when she witnessed a crow feasting on the flesh of the corpse closest to her.

But even after they left that Godforsaken island behind, she couldn't help but notice the faint smell of death and rotting corpses. Perhaps, Kidd wanted the ship to smell like that, to let enemies know that he wasn't to be taken lightly, and to let others know that he wasn't afraid to kill, in fact, he enjoyed it.

He had serious mental issues.

And that was saying a lot because she had seen the worst of Sabaody's Underworld such as a man she met (after meeting him she felt the overwhelming need to take a long, hot shower) called Caribou who had a habit of killing marines or burying people alive. He wasn't there long, he left shortly before the war started, saying something about making a name for himself in the Grand Line.

Now they were continuing on in the New World, headed for the next island where a new adventure awaited them (hopefully, because God forbid Kidd get bored again).

"This one doesn't seem to far from the last island," Heat was saying to Kidd. "But the only way to tell is when we actually get there."

"I hope it's soon." Kid said darkly. "That last island put me in a bad mood. I want to kill something again."

_Put _you _in a bad mood?_ Cayenne snorted at that remark. And here she was, glaring at every single man who tried to approach her for anything. She wondered who would be scarier when completely pissed off: her or Kid.

At the moment, it didn't sound like a bad idea. Or maybe that was because she was angry. Or maybe she was starting to get cabin fever, she didn't know.

"Hey, what's that?" Someone near her asked and pointed at something churning in the water.

Cayenne looked, bubbles were beginning to froth and the water was churning faster. Then something broke the surface and for a moment she thought it was an underwater volcano erupting but what was coming out of the water was green, a sea king?

Whatever it was, it was right underneath the ship!

It was dark green in color and it looked like a tentacle and was steadily rising. Cayenne could hear Kidd in the background barking orders. But it was too late. The ship was in the air, carried by the mysterious green thing.

"What the hell is that?" Cayenne wondered out loud as she bent over the railing of the ship in order to get a closer look. It wasn't scaly like the skin of a sea king but instead, it was smooth and shiny. And judging by that, it probably was slippery too.

And sure enough, as soon as the green thing was high up in the air, the ship started sliding downwards. Cayenne latched onto the railing and held on for dear life as the ship picked up speed. Many of the other men let out shouts of surprise before scrambling to find something to hold onto. The wind whipped through her hair as the ship kept gaining speed. _If we don't do something soon, we're going to crash!_ Cayenne thought as she dug her nails into the wood even more to prevent her from flying off.

The ship jerked backwards, nearly sending all of the crew backwards. Cayenne's head snapped back painfully from the whiplash. She turned her gaze, wincing as she did so, to the prow of the ship to see Kid hanging onto one of the prongs that adorned the skull. He was holding out his right hand at the ship and she understood. _He's using his ability to repel the ship and slow it down. The ship must be enforced with metal in some places._

They were slowing down but weren't coming to a stop. The green thing they were on was too slippery for them to come to a complete stop. Still hanging onto the railing, she squinted ahead of them and saw something big and black coming up. And it was coming up fast.

"KID!" Cayenne bellowed and when she had his attention (he sent her an irritated glare as he was still trying to stop the ship) she pointed at the big black mass that was in front of them. Kid twisted around and then whipped around and held his hand out towards the bottom of the ship. The ship gave a loud groan as it tried to slow down but the slippery material was getting the best of it.

Something whizzed by Cayenne's head. "Lower your sail!" She heard something squeak. She searched for the source of the voice and she heard it again. "Lower your sail!" Then she found it. Flying alongside the ship was a small bug-like thing. Its wings were a blur as it kept up with the ship and it had huge, bulbous, black eyes. "LOWER YOUR SAIL!" It shouted again.

She turned to look for Killer. "Killer!" She shouted when she found him, a twitch of his head told her he heard her. "We need to lower the sail! It'll help slow us down." She knew he heard her but he didn't move. Cayenne frowned, why wouldn't he lower the sails?

She turned back to the insect flying by them. "I'm sorry, we can't!"

The insect flew away from the ship and the black mass was coming closer. _We're going to die! Barely a week in the New World and I'm going to _die_!_ She held on even tighter and cursed her helplessness, she couldn't move from her spot or she'd be blown off the ship and therefore couldn't help Kid with slowing the ship down.

"Launch!" She heard vaguely over the wind and several thin ropes erupted from the black mass and headed for the ship. They were close enough for her to notice that the black rock (as she identified it) was not in their path, merely next to it. Most of the ropes landed on the deck and quickly flew back and latched onto the railing or other parts of the ship that were secure enough. Within seconds, the ropes tightened and the ship lurched. This time, Cayenne did let go of the railing and she tumbled to the deck. But they were slowing down even more, and another black mass was looming in front of them but it was much bigger and they really were heading straight for it.

There was a loud bang and the ship shuddered before coming to a slow stop, they lurched once but settled quickly.

"Quick stop complete." Cayenne heard from above, she dazedly looked up to see the bug buzzing around above them. Except it wasn't a bug, it was a boy. "Sit tight for a while!" He called. "We'll have you in a port in no time."

Many of the crew members were slowly unlatching themselves or getting off the floor of the deck, lest they go down the slippery slope again. Cayenne unsteadily rose up, her legs and arms were slightly shaking from holding on for dear life and the adrenaline rush. Kid hopped back onto the deck, a cross look on his features. "What the hell was that?" He spat. "We nearly died!"

"I don't know, Master Kid." Heat said. Both he and Killer looked unfazed by their ordeal.

Cayenne scowled in Killer's direction. "You could have listened to me." Killer didn't say anything, he merely turned his head slightly towards her.

"Okay!" The bug-boy was back. "We're going to pull you in nice and slow!" More ropes emerged and hooked on the bow of the ship while the rest from the big rock were released. "Reel her in!"

They lurched again but thankfully the ship was going at a slow pace. "You there, boy!" Kid barked. "Where are we?"

The boy didn't answer, instead he merely buzzed along. As they got nearer and nearer the large mass (which had to be an island) it came into clearer view. Cayenne let out a gasp but she wasn't the only one, many others let their jaws drop and pointed.

It was a large plant. The island was a plant. All they could see was its towering green leaves that went straight up and curved outward, like a blossom. _Where are we going to weigh anchor?_ Cayenne thought numbly as she stared at it awe. Her unasked question was answered when some of the leaves parted and they saw a small pool with a dock.

"Loading dock four!" She heard someone shout from the pool. Another man was behind a machine that was pulling the ship in. The came to a halt and the leaves behind them fell back into place, cutting them off from the sea and locking them in. "Alright, we're secure!" The man called out cheerfully. "You can dock now!"

They didn't need to be told twice, the ramp was lowered and most of the crew spilled onto the ground. Actual ground, Cayenne noted.

"Where is this?" Kid demanded again. The buzzing was heard and the young boy landed next to them man and removed his goggles. He was no older than twelve with sandy brown hair peeking out from underneath a cap. He looked like a miniature version of the older man next to him.

The boy flashed them a grin, showing a missing tooth. "Welcome to Hydrilla Island!"

If he was expecting a cheerier reaction, he was wrong. "The fuck kinda island is this?" Kid nearly snarled. "My ship was almost destroyed!" Cayenne winced slightly at his choice of words in front of a kid.

"But you were lucky." The man explained. "Some ships are actually on top of the plant when it rises and they go plummeting down, you got on a floater leaf. A floater leaf just floats around waiting for prey and when it gets it it lifts, sending the prey down to the main plant." He explained when he caught sight of their confused faces (although Kid's was turning slightly murderous). "We've managed to engineer the leaves to send ships to a loading dock, we help slow you down into the loading dock and presto! You've safely landed on the island!" He beamed, ignorant that he was playing host to a very bloodthirsty and murderous pirate crew.

"Did you say this island is a plant?" Cayenne spoke up, hoping to disperse the murderous intent from Kid. Honestly, he should be grateful they were still alive.

The boy nodded. "I can explain while I lead you to town, Dad can stay and take care of the ship."

Kid stepped forward. "Stay with the ship," He snarled at the crew and gestured for Killer to follow him down a path leading into the forest of leaves.

The older man looked around nervously as Kid and Killer followed his son. Cayenne darted forward and followed the three. If there was going to be a killing spree, she could at least save the boy. "So what kind of island is this?" She asked again, ignoring Kid's disapproving look.

"A plant." he responded. "There was an actual island here until the plant showed up. It's an aquatic plant and it kind of swallowed the island. Now we follow the plants schedule, for three days it's blooming on top of the water before closing and sinking into the sea for four days."

"_Sinking_?"

"Yep, the plant closes and goes down into the ocean, taking the island with it."

"You spend four days under the water?" Cayenne asked, incredulous. All the while, Killer was walking along silently (as usual) and Kid was staring around, disinterested. "How do you breathe and get light?"

"We have artificial lights when it goes dark and we get oxygen from the plant's photosynthesis. The plant's also a barrier from the elements too." Wow, the plant sustained them perfectly and even gave them protection from sea kings, water pressure, and floods.

"When is the next time the plant goes under?" Kid interrupted.

The boy looked behind at them. "Tomorrow."

Cayenne bit her lip. They could only be here for at the most twelve hours before sailing but could only move if Kid gave the order and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't going to move just yet. He was planning something…

"What's your name?" Cayenne asked the boy.

"Mushi." he flashed another smile at her but looked forward as they came to a bend in the path. "Welcome to the town."

It was a fairly large town, Cayenne could tell that it used to be on a field before it was swallowed by the plant, there were no trees, just grass that had been mowed down to make room for the buildings, tall posts had lights strung around the town—probably for when they sunk—and Cayenne could make out more paths leading into the forest of leaves at the other end. They probably lead to more docks or other places on the island. She looked skywards to see tall leaves pointing straight up and could barely make out the bend where they curved. From here, it looked like they went on forever. It was a truly remarkable island but they were in the New World, things like this were to be expected.

"The inn's over there." Mushi pointed a larger building. "You can get more directions and such from the innkeeper, her name's Maki. I have to go home now, it's almost lunch time." His funny little wings emerged from the backpack on his back and he buzzed off.

Cayenne watched him for a little bit before returning to Kidd. "Shall we go to the inn?" She asked.

Kidd didn't say anything, a pensive look was on his face. "This island sinks every three days." He repeated Mushi's words. "It's impenetrable and provides excellent defense and judging by the looks of the town, there aren't any marines here. They think they're safe here." Cayenne could see the cogs turning in his heads and a horrible feeling swelled in her stomach. Kidd grinned. "Think of the possibilities, if I'm going to conquer the world, what better place than to do it here?"

His grin turned feral. "In four days, this island will belong to me."

**-x-**

**Dun, dun, duuun! And now we have the intro for Cayenne's arc. You have no idea how difficult it is to come up with an island to fit in with OPverse.**

**But see you next time for Kidd's dastard plan to be set in motion!**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, flames are not.**


	12. C: Burn

**I present to you: Chapter Twelve with more of Cayenne!**

**And thanks to **_One Piece's_** latest chapter, my plot bunnies have procreated. I'm going to have so much fun with that.**

**All that you recognize from **_One Piece_ **doesn't belong to me but all that you don't recognize belongs to me.**

**Fair warning: Kidd's insane.**

**Enjoy!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

He was insane. That was the only reason why Kid wanted to take over the island she could come up with. He was absolutely insane. He was probably on the verge of being a psychopath. "Are you serious?" Cayenne hissed to the man. They had made their way into town and found the nearest bar, where they were currently sitting in. "This place doesn't have a marine base, it's just a small town." She made sure to keep her voice down. If the townsfolk learned that Kid was planning a hostile takeover they would be a little less welcoming.

"There are advantages." Kid said simply. He finished his grog and motioned for another to the barkeep.

"But still! There are _kids_ living here." Cayenne whispered desperately but quickly quieted—not because of Kid's withering glare but because the barkeep was pouring Kid another glass, she told herself—and stared fiercely at him.

Kid leaned forward dangerously. "Who's captain?" He snarled at her. Cayenne opened her mouth to retort but he cut her off. "_Who's captain_?"

She gave up. "You are." She muttered sullenly.

"And who gives the orders?"

"The captain."

"Exactly. You are part of my crew so you follow _my_ orders." His dark red eyes bore into her teal ones. "Am I clear?"

"Perfectly." Cayenne spoke through gritted teeth.

Beside them, Killer sat silently but his head was slightly turned towards Cayenne as if he was ready to strike her if she decided to disobey their captain.

-x-

The rest of their stay in the town was strained to say the least, Kid was gloating over his victory (over Cayenne or the town, she didn't know), Cayenne was fuming, and Killer was striding alongside them silently, as usual. This was pure insanity.

Causing a ruckus on the first island was a little understandable (but she still disagreed with the bloodshed and had a feeling this problem would come up continually) but this felt like overkill. She knew about the dangers of the New World, if you couldn't back up the claims of your strength, the place would devour you. Kid planning something like this, it could attract the wrong kind of attention and they could have marines or stronger pirates attacking them.

She shivered. Judging by the way Killer didn't question Kid at all about taking over the island, the rest of the crew would be behind him too. They would all be ready for a hostile takeover. Dear God, she was the only sane person in the crew.

-x-

Kid didn't go to the inn like Mushi suggested. Instead they went back to the ship where everyone else was waiting and there, Kid told them his plans. "Tomorrow, after the plant sinks into the water for four days we're going to take over this island."

As she suspected, no one questioned him. They all quivered in excitement at the prospect of destroying a peaceful island. Cayenne was nearly sickened but she quashed her nausea, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared blankly at Kid as he gave instructions.

"We'll burn this island down to the ground." Someone was saying.

"Not a good idea." Cayenne interrupted, loud enough to be heard.

Many pairs of eyes turned to her—Kid's were boring a hole into her—and she sighed and explained. "The plant will seal itself when it goes under. There will be no way for fresh air to get in or out. If you burn the place, the smoke won't have anywhere to go and we'll suffocate."

"Then what do you suggest?" Kid called out as he walked towards her, splitting a path between his crew. He stood before her, his gaze coolly fixed of hers.

_He's testing me._ Cayenne realized. _He wants to know if I could really do this. _"Wait for a day after the plant sinks. See what the townsfolk do and how they operate and once we know, we strike." A stab of guilt went through her as she said it but under the force of Kid's glare, she knew there was nothing else she could do.

Kid broke out into a sinister smile. "Good idea. You do it."

Ice broke into her chest and her breath caught, "what?"

"Cayenne just volunteered, she will observe the town and people and come up with an effective strategy for our takeover." Even as he turned to face the other men, she could hear the gloat in his voice. He wasn't testing her, he was making her submissive to him, she realized. And she was powerless to do anything about it, lest someone strike her down. Her eyes shifted to Killer's still form and she saw the telltale tilt of his head that told her his eyes were trained on her. She wasn't stupid, she knew he had been watching her since the last island when she went berserk on him and Kid.

Kid wasn't the only one testing her loyalties. Killer was waiting for the moment she decided that she wouldn't follow Kid and kill her. And that made her all the more determined to find her place amongst the Kid pirates. "I'll do it." She found herself agreeing. In the back of her mind she knew it was better the townspeople than her.

-x-

Many of the crew members ventured out to explore the rest of Hydrilla during the next day and Cayenne had also left to formulate a plan and to think. But Heat had also decided to accompany her which wasn't bad, he was also pretty quiet (but not as quiet as Killer) and didn't bother her with questions as they walked down the paths. "What are your plans?" Heat broke the silence.

She glanced back at Heat, she had seen him spit flames from his wide mouth so she could assume that he was asking about her plans because when the plant would close he wouldn't be able to do that. "I was thinking about using the darkness as a cover. But I wanted to see what they will do for lighting. If they keep the lights on at all times, then we'll have a problem. Not only that, but when the island sinks, I'm going to bet that's when the island is at its most vulnerable so I want to see if they have any weapons." Weapons would be challenging but she knew Kid would enjoy it all the more if people resisted.

Heat was silent. "You've really thought it all out." He finally commented.

"I'm pretty sure all Kid's been doing so far was attack first and attack outright. That's why his bounty is so high." She replied.

"You are right." He confirmed. "We've never had anyone devise any plans before. Master Kid is a bit apprehensive about it but he's giving you this chance to prove to him that you can do it."

She knew it, Kid really was going to make her prove she had a place among his crew and she shuddered to think what would happen if she failed. "I can follow his orders but it doesn't mean I have to like them." Cayenne said simply as they neared the town.

Thankfully Heat didn't say anymore on the subject as they trudged through town. The people there were milling around, selling wares and cheerfully enjoying the last of the sun before it went dark.

Cayenne's heart slowly sank, little by little as she watched them. A woman tried to sell her some fruit but she politely waved her off and even children ran up to the to check out Heat's strange appearance. "This doesn't seem like an island that should be in the New World." Cayenne commented as she and Heat sent the children away. "It feels like this should be on the first half."

"Every island is different." Heat replied.

_And it doesn't bother you that Kid wants to destroy this place?_ She wanted to ask but didn't. Even if she did there would be no point in trying to convince him otherwise. Once Kid has made a decision he's made a decision. The fact that he went after her twice on Sabaody proved it.

"It's starting!" Someone screamed.

Her first thought was that Kid was going to forgo a plan and attack after all until the shadows began to grow. "The plant... it's closing!" Cayenne said in awe as she looked up. Indeed, the plant was closing. The tall leaves were slowly standing up straight and curving to meet each other in the center, covering the island in a bubble. "Amazing!" She breathed.

The island was also getting darker and the street lights lining the streets were turning on. _Are those lights it? If only the town gets light, it'll be easier to move._ And she wasn't seeing anyone with a weapon. Everyone was either watching the plant close or moving back into their homes. Finally, the leaves met together and enveloped the world in darkness—only the dim lighting from the lights kept them from being fully blind—and then there was a sinking feeling as the plant moved down. "Excuse me." She said to a nearby woman. "Are these the only lights?"

"No." The woman shook her head and pointed up. "People will string lights up there." And sure enough, in the din she could make out small shapes buzzing around on the contraption that Mushi had, stringing up more lights that gave some more light but it was still dim. "Those lights are like our sun down here, they're dim because the sun will be setting soon."

Cayenne bowed her head politely. "Thank you."

They walked away, heading back for the ship and Heat sent a sidelong glance at her. "You already have a plan, don't you."

Cayenne nodded. "All I needed to see was what they do when it goes dark to finish it."

-x-

"Judging by what the people did earlier shows that this island really is peaceful. There weren't any weapon that I saw so they're aren't expecting to be attacked anytime soon." Cayenne explained to Kid. "My plan is simple, when those overhead lights go off, make a sneak attack. They won't be expecting it and it'll take them too long to respond to properly fight back." She recognized the look in his eye. "But if you want make a scene and have bloodshed then just make a huge ruckus, destroy buildings, and let them fight back. Fire's also okay, to an extent." She amended. "But don't go overboard."

She didn't want to admit it but Kid's silence was making her nervous. What if he decided he didn't want a plan and would just attack instead? "I like it." Kid said abruptly. He turned to Heat. "Tell the men that we attack at night and cause a ruckus. Let's see how many fight back before the inevitable."

Well at least he followed a semblance of her plan. It was a start. And to her surprise, the rest of the crew took to her plan really well, even Killer paused to give her a nod of acknowledgment. Then she found herself in her little makeshift room polishing her staff and practicing combat moves. Was she actually _excited_ to participate tonight? Would she even participate? She didn't know but her heart was hammering like it usually was when she was facing off against large group of thugs. As much as she wanted to deny it, she wanted to get out and fight. All of the pent up anger and frustration was ready to burst.

Cayenne wanted the night to come.

-x-

The men actually did wait until night when the overhead lights turned off and they did sneak off to the town to start the attack. She lost sight of Kid but she saw Killer head into the market district and then there was a loud explosion as Heat had blown up a shop.

Then the screaming began. Men were shouting that they were under attack, women were screaming, and children were crying. The men began to bring out the weapons, guns and swords mostly and Cayenne found herself fending off people in the middle of the housing district. The men with the swords were easy to defend against, they weren't very good and a simple parry would disarm them before she slammed one end of her staff into their heads, causing them to slump into unconsciousness. But the men with guns were harder to deal with, she had to move quickly and get them inside her range to hit them without getting shot at. Unfortunately she felt a couple bullets graze her, cutting into her skin.

After dealing with the troublesome men, she prepared to leave and see how far Kid had gotten—_curse them._ She thought. Someone had set another building on fire. _I told them that's a bad idea—_when a shuffling sound crept up on her. Brandishing her staff in front of her, she whirled to her right and took up a defensive pose but her eyes widened in shock as the recognized two of three people cowering before her.

Mushi and his father. His father was in front of Mushi and a woman with long black, presumably Muhsi's mother, with his arms hovering over them, trying to create a barrier between her and them. "Stay back!" He warned.

This man was scared of her. Now, she was used to thugs being scared of her back on Sabaody and it wasn't hard to fight the other men here but this man... She knew him, he had smiled at her in welcoming him and she hesitated. "You should get somewhere safe." She said softly but she didn't think he heard her. As if there was anywhere safe to go to, they were all trapped on a plant with nowhere to go.

"Don't touch my family!" He shouted shakily, the fear was mounting in his eyes. She could tell.

Reasoning with him would go nowhere, if she tried to he would panic even more and try to attack when the flight or flight response triggered. She turned to go when a clicking sound made her stop. "I'm warning you!" He had pulled a gun out and was pointing it directly at her.

Reluctantly, she let her staff drop to hand loosely in her hand. "I'm not going to hurt you." The gun was trembling, she had to do something or he really was going to shoot her or hurt someone else like his son or wife. "Just put down the gun."

"Just... leave." He whispered.

"I'll leave." She promised. "You just need to put down the gun."

"I'll put it down when you're gone!"

She knew he wouldn't, she'd seen it enough times. He would continue to be jumpy even after she had left and would possibly turn the gun on Mushi or his wife. "Put. Down. The gun." She commanded. That was a mistake, there was too much power in her voice and she saw his finger twitch, ready to squeeze the trigger. She acted. Her hand tightened around her weapon and she darted forward, knocking his arm away as he fired the gun, the resulting shot echoed all around them and the woman screamed. Cayenne grabbed his wrist and squeezed, making him drop the gun in pain. In an instant, her staff was striking him across the temple, knocking him out. He fell limply to the ground.

"Dad!" Mushi cried and he and his mother ran forward, she cradled her husband's head and Mushi to take over the role as protector. As much as she wanted to make sure she didn't do any lasting damage, her presence wouldn't be any more welcome than it was now. She slowly turned to walk away and heard Mushi cry out. "We helped you!"

"I know." She replied.

"You're a bad person! You're just a scum pirate!"

"I know." She said simply and walked away.

-x-

As she walked through the town, she saw the signs of destruction: bodies were strewn about, speckling the darkened ground with blood, doors where barely hanging off their hinges, and windows were busted. _If he was allowed to use more fire the damage would be worse._ She thought as she examined a broken window. Cayenne continued on, catching a brief glimpse of Killer slashing down a group of men and then she spotted Kid. He was standing amidst the worst of the destruction, a large arm made of metal object was swiping at people trying to defend themselves. And he was laughing, positively howling with glee.

That confirmed it. Eustass "Captain" Kid was absolutely insane.

She watched him take another swipe, the resistance was dying down. They couldn't do anything against a pirate crew led by a supernova captain, not without assistance from the marines. The thought worried her slightly, if someone had a den den mushi and contacted the marines... there could be an entire fleet waiting for them the moment the plant surfaced. But the moment that thought died, Kid turned and spotted her watching him. Their eyes connected and Kid flashed her a blood lust filled smirk and sauntered towards her. He stood before her and his presence towered over her. Before she could open her mouth to say something, his head swooped down and his lips covered her own in a kiss.

It was searing, his touch blazed through her being, threatening to burn her very core. The heat shot through her veins as he deepened the kiss, using her surprise to his advantage. He bit down on her lip and her gasp of shock allowed him to shove his tongue in. He tasted of blood and metal. And finally, _finally_ Cayenne understood: she was the one who was going to be devoured if she didn't try and change. She had to let go of her morals if she wanted to survive. The level she was at now would let her survive back in the first half but not here. She had to be stronger but her morality was holding her back from doing so. In that revelation she made the choice that would change her life: she kissed him back.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer and her fingers threaded through his flame-red hair, pulling at it harshly. He responded by pulling her even closer by the hips, her body now flush against his. His own fist entangled itself in her hair and also pulled, she responded by nipping at his tongue and he bit hers. Their tongues battled heavily for domination and both of their fists tightened in each other's hair. It was a brutal and dominating kiss, and it was nothing like she had ever experienced.

And it was there, on that battlefield, Cayenne burned.

-x-

**I don't know why, but I love insane characters. Makes them more fun. For now, the arcs are going to be relatively short but they will get longer. I promise. After all, **_One Piece Part Two_** is just starting and there is plenty of Law and Kidd to be had.**

**But who else misses Law's original hat?**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome and make me a happy author but no flames. See you in chapter thirteen!**


	13. C: Aftermath

**Hello my lovely readers! Thanks for the reviews last chapter! Reviews will always make me happy.**

**You know the drill: I don't own it. **

**Enjoy!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

Abruptly Kid pulled away, a maniacal but pleased gleam in his eyes. Cayenne held his gaze for a moment but then looked away. What did that mean? She turned back to him but he was already walking away. Half of her wanted to shout and run after him and take him by the coat and demand to know what that was all about and she almost did it too. Every fiber in her being was poised to run but she didn't. Her pride held her back. If there was anything in the world she didn't want, it was Kid having an advantage over her. So she shut her mouth and went to survey the aftermath.

It was quite catastrophic where Kidd had been. Swords were sticking out of the ground and in the walls of buildings, guns and various metallic objects were scattered about, light fixtures were almost falling over giving the place a dim, gloomy glow.

And then there were the bodies. They were strewn about, some flat on their backs other had been mangled and cut with their blood dying the ground red. Cayenne found herself staring into the blank and soulless eyes of a man, his mouth open in a silent scream—or maybe he had pleaded for his life before he had been cut down and judging by the gaping wound on his chest, it had been the work of Killer who wouldn't give any of his enemies mercy.

"They've surrendered." Wire appeared at her elbow, looking very pleased. "The survivors are being rounded up now."

"What about the wounded?"

"Left to die." It wasn't surprising but it displeased her. It was like those pirates on the first island all over again. Almost reading her mind, Wire added. "I wouldn't question it this time. There are more survivors than dead and wounded. Turns out there were three more villages on the island. Smaller than this one. Captain's letting them stay put for now."

"Hmm..." She hummed in response and stepped over the dead man. "It's over, isn't it?" Wire nodded. "Then it worked." Her plan really worked. Honestly, she shouldn't feel surprised. Her plans always worked, usually.

The two of them walked to where a large group of people were gathered. There were many women and children but few men, as most of them were either dead or wounded, and most, if not all, were crying. And at the front—standing there with a triumphant smirk—was Kid. He held up his hand and several guns lifted up and pointed threateningly at the crowd.

"QUIET!" Kid roared. There was instant silence but the terror in the air was so thick, Cayenne could be swimming in it. "This island belongs to me now." He said menacingly. The people shrank back even more as a soft murmur broke out. Kid sent them another look and a frightened hush descended again.

_How is he even going to keep this island under his rule? _Cayenne pondered. _He doesn't have enough man power to keep watch on this place and continue on. And creating a new division is unwise too, we'd be too weak._ She glanced at Killer standing near the back of the crowd but with his mask and posture it was impossible to tell what was going through his mind. Cayenne returned her attention to Kid who looked like he was devouring the fear that permeated from the group before them and another plan began to formulate in her mind.

-x-

The civilians were allowed to go back to their homes, or what was left of them. The dead had been strung up on makeshift crosses to serve as a warning. The next day found Kid wandering to the remaining three towns and scaring the people there half to death. And for the rest of the day he pilfered all the gold they had to offer. "Not a bad haul," he commented with a laugh as the men brought it on board.

While Kid was off terrorizing villages, Cayenne would often be found training in one of the abandoned docks well away from the ship. She had decided that she didn't particularly enjoy being enclosed in a plant underwater and had examined the petals on the outer edge. They were practically sealed together, the edges were seamless and it would be impossible and impractical to try and break through. She didn't know the depth and the water pressure could kill them all.

But that didn't matter right now. Cayenne skillfully wielded her staff as she fought off imaginary foes. The plant was going back up in two days and that's when they needed to make a big decision of what they were going to do with the island. Most of the men were seeing two options before them: they completely raze the place to the ground and leave it for the marines to discover or they just leave and allow the people to contact the marines. But there was a third way... She slammed the pole into a nonexistent jaw but she had to be careful when proposing it to Kid. Last night she proved her worth to him with the success of the attack but that didn't mean he would still listen to her. Either way, she was going to try.

-x-

Amazingly, mostly everyone was back on the ship. Among some of the things they had looted, they had gotten their hands on booze. "It figures..." Cayenne sighed and side stepped around one of them who was drinking straight from a sake bottle. Against her better judgment, she leaned down and swiped a bottle of rum. Using her teeth to uncork it, she took a quick swig. A warm fire spread in her belly and chest as she drank. The liquid courage would be welcome. She made her way to the Captain's quarters where Kid would surely be and if he wasn't, she would just wait for him.

Luck seemed to be on her side when she edged the door open to see Kid inside, nursing a bottle of grog. "Kid." She fully entered the room and closed the door. Kid lowered his bottle and looked at her, raising an eyebrow-less brow. It was probably quite a sight: the only female on a pirate ship in the Captain's room with the door closed. To anyone else it would look like she was attempting to seduce him but both she and Kid knew better.

"What?"

Her eyes met his again and she took a slight breath. "Congratulations on getting the island." She said softly.

"Is that all you wanted to say?" He asked brutishly.

"No. What are you planning to do when we resurface?" His silence told her that he hadn't thought that far. "Kid, we don't have the manpower to divide ourselves to watch the island."

WHUMP! A metal screw lodged itself in the door next to her head. At once, she knew she made a mistake. Kid growled and stomped over to her. "Are you trying to tell me what to do?" He entangled his fist in her hair and roughly gripped the base of her head. "You weasel your way into _my_ crew, you're the newest member, and you try to order me around?"

"I'm just telling you what you need to know!" She retorted. "You do whatever the hell you want when you want! You wanted the island, _fine._ But what are you going to do now that you have it? Sit here and rule and not go for Raftel?"

She hit a nerve and he knew it and his hand tightened. He sneered at her, "if I recall, you were against us taking over in the first place. Or are you still trying to save them?"

"No, I'm just trying to prevent _you_ from losing your reputation." Cayenne leaned forward as much as he allowed her, her eyes trained on his. "You've got a couple options that aren't exactly ideal. Option One: We leave when we're back on the surface. They contact the marines and enter their protection making your 'take-over' useless and you'll become a laughing stock. Option Two: We raze it again, leaving nothing and making it a lump of land mass for the marines to find and you'll have nothing to rule again. Even leaving some men behind will be no good if they get a hold of the marines because it will leave you and them weak."

They held each other's gazes for the longest time and when his hand loosened slightly, she knew she won. "What do you suggest?"

"Threaten them, tell them that you will leave but you will be back."

"That's all?"

"You should know what fear will do." She replied. "All they'll know is that you will be coming back but they won't know when. They're already terrified of you. They'll keep their silence."

Kid let go and walked back over to the bottle of grog and took a long drink. "You've got brains, Cayenne." He shrugged off his coat, leaving him topless and she did her best to keep her eyes on his flaming-red hair. "But." He turned back towards her, "You better not think that you're above this because you prefer to make plans instead of outright attacking."

"Pardon me if I want to protect my Captain's reputation."

He laughed. "It's rather satisfying to hear you say _my Captain_." Kid took another swig. "Leave."

She opened the door and as the door shut behind her, she heard Kid say, "I'll consider it."

Outside, she smiled. She had just gotten the villager's their lives back. Cayenne turned the corner to head to the barracks but walked straight into a muscular chest. The brunette looked up to see a familiar white and blue mask. "Killer." She greeted. When she didn't get a response she stepped around him but his hand shot out to grab her arm. "What?" But he let go and walked towards Kid's room silently. "Okay." Cayenne shook her head, the silent man will always continue to confuse her.

-x-

Kid didn't even look away from his grog when the door opened a second time. "She's sly."

"She thinks she's manipulative."

Kid shrugged and looked at his first mate. "That's not a bad quality."

"She's capable of worse."

"How capable?"

"As bad as you or me."

Kidd nodded and let out a raucous laugh. "She thinks she can put herself above us."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Some more destruction here and there, we'll just keep pushing her." The man leaned forward. "Tomorrow you, Heat, and Wire will go to the other three towns and wreak havoc. If we're going to make her plan a success we'll have to give them more reason to fear us. Cayenne's playing my game now."

"Can you play hers?"

"To an extent." He finished his grog as his first mate slipped out of the room. Cayenne was smart but she wouldn't last long. "Let's see who can play each other's game the longest."

-x-

For the next two days, Cayenne went out to practice with fervor after she heard that Killer had gutted several men in another town. And that was how she knew Kid had listened to her. "Just two more days." She told herself. Two more days and they would leave. As much as she wanted to leave for the townspeople's sake, she was ready to get to the next island.

At the end of the day, she ventured back into town and found most of the people attempting to go about their everyday lives. It must have been really hard for them considering their loved ones were crucified just outside of their homes. She walked into the bar and saw a girl, around her age, standing behind the counter. The girl had black hair pulled back into a ponytail but her blue eyes were looking at Cayenne in terror.

Cayenne made her way to the girl. "What happens when the plant goes back up?"

She trembled and whispered. "It'll just go up and bloom." Cayenne nodded her thanks and went to leave but the girl's next words came out. "They say you were the one who planned it."

The woman turned back to her. "Who says?"

"All of them."

Her heart stopped for a moment. So that was Kid's game, he was handing her credit where credit was due. He may have destroyed their lives but she was the one who told him how. "It could have been worse." She warned.

The girl's mouth opened and closed multiple times. Cayenne didn't say anything else but left quickly.

-x-

The day they could leave came soon enough but not after Killer had killed more people and Heat had burned a house down. That made the atmosphere a little smoky but soon enough, the ground trembled and there was a rushing feeling. Cayenne went out on deck and looked up and then a tiny hole appeared in the ceiling. But then the hole got bigger and glorious sun appeared as the plant bloomed fully. She breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes against the bright light, welcoming the warm sunlight against her skin.

"Captain!" Kid was striding down the ramp and Cayenne knew where he was going. She went after him to follow, Killer also following her.

At the village, people were milling around frantically. "Someone get a hold of the marines!"

She knew at once that was a terrible mistake. Kid motioned to Killer who didn't need to be told twice. The masked-man lunged forward to find the man who was calling for someone to get the marines and it didn't take long for Killer to kill him. At this, everyone stopped and turned to the three, terrified.

"So..." Kid drawled lazily. "The moment we come back up, you decide the best thing to do is call the marines." He grinned. "Then go ahead. We'll be long gone by the time they get here. But don't think we're gone for good. I _will_ come back and when I do, the chaos that happened here will only seem like a bad bar fight."

That had the desired effect, she could see it in their eyes. Even if they got protection of the marines, they would forever live in fear of the day when Kid returned.

-x-

The young Ensign trembled as he walked through the hallways of Marineford. Some of the holes left over from the war let in an uncomfortable breeze. Fortunately, this side of headquarters wasn't as damaged as other parts because it was closer to the back. That left the office at the end of the hall undamaged. His breath came out shaky as he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

The Ensign opened the door slowly and entered. "Vice Admiral—"

"Ahh, Ensign Evetts, isn't it?" The Vice Admiral looked up. "How's the family?"

Evetts smiled weakly. "Fine. Thank you for asking—"

"So what's happened to Hydrilla that they've sent the report to headquarters instead of G-1?"

He handed the report over to his superior. "There's been an attack on the island. We suspect the Kid Pirates are behind it but none of the villagers will admit it. They're terrified."

The Vice Admiral flicked through the report. "Men crucified with screws and swords... we've seen that before. It's definitely him. Do we know where he's heading next?"

"We've deduced that the next island could be—"

"Ame Country." The Ensign felt fear stab through him, the Vice Admiral was using _that ability_. "They're sailing straight into waters controlled by Big Mom. Tell me Evetts, did your daughter enjoy the doll you bought her for her birthday?"

He nearly wet himself. "With all due respect, this really isn't the time..."

He felt the Vice Admiral's eyes bore into his and silence ensued for a moment before... "Of course. But I'm glad she liked it but now is also not the time to be thinking about your family."

"Y-yes."

The report was snapped shut. "Now tell me, what is this about a female pirate?"

"We don't know her name as of yet but the rumor from Hydrilla is that she's the one who planned the attack."

"Hmm... Our reports of Kid's behavior is that he would just cause random destruction. But now that there's someone capable of this, it's going to get worse. Unfortunately, Akainu has the Captain of the Photography Branch searching for his mysterious haki user so I'll just pass this along to the rest of the branch. All reports of the Kid Pirates are to go straight to me from now on and since we know that Kid will cross paths with members of Big Mom's crew we need to be extra vigilant. Be ready for reports of something big."

Knowing that was his signal to leave, he all but ran from the room and away from the office. He had just survived a meeting with the Vice Admiral known to be the next candidate for a major promotion: Admiral.

-x-

**And that concludes chapter thirteen! Luca makes her grand reappearance next chapter so I hope you all are as excited to see her again as I am.**

**Once again: reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, flames are not.**

**See ya in chapter fourteen!**


	14. L: To Fishman Island

**I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I promised to be more active over the summer but got so busy with work and before I knew it, summer was over and school had started. I'm doing my best, I swear. I want to thank all you wonderful readers who had reviewed, favored, and followed this story. Your support means so much to me. I wouldn't have gotten this far without you. So thank you!**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

A month. They had been sailing and wandering around the Grand Line for a month. One. Friggin. Month. Luca was almost at her wits' end and could potentially bite someone's head off. That was probably cabin fever talking but she didn't care, if they could just dock on some island, any island, she would be the happiest person in the world and the potential head biting injuries would go significantly down. But no, Law insisted that they just wander aimlessly as they had enough supplies to last them three months and at one point, they were under the water for a week. Luca almost pulled out all of her hair from being enclosed in the tiny sub.

She swore Law was doing it on purpose. She wasn't blind, she saw him smirking at her every time her head was turned. If it wasn't for Bepo and Shachi, she probably would have snapped. Shachi enticed her to play multiple rounds of poker and was surprised to learn she was terrible at it (hey, _Cayenne's_ the poker genius) and Bepo sought her out for more pets. "I can't be great at everything." Luca grumbled as she, Shachi, Penguin, and another crew member who introduced himself as Maurice played another round of poker. She was losing pretty badly. Her pot consisted of less than a handful of beli and a rock. Shachi had suggested they started betting clothes when she began to lose the rest of her money. A sharp glare from her shut him up.

"You can't win at everything." Maurice agreed, adjusting his newsboy cap even lower over his eyes (that was, apparently, a common style on the sub.) Luca couldn't tell how old he was, his collar and hat obscured his face but she pegged him to be closer to his thirties. However, she could make out a jagged scar running down his cheek. He surveyed his winnings, the largest pile, with disinterest. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" Maurice picked up a beli.

Shachi snorted into his cards while Luca stared at him, perplexed. "It's money..." She said slowly. "You buy stuff with it." Penguin sniggered.

"Why would I want to do that?" Maurice said blankly. His head shifted to look at her pile. "I'll trade you my winnings for your rock."

"Uh... what?"

"Your rock." Maurice pointed at the rock in her pile. "I want it."

"Why?"

"Because it's cool. Rocks are cool."

Luca let out a nervous giggle and picked up the rock. "Okay."

"Awesome!" Maurice cheered and dropped his cards: a royal flush. Everyone else groaned in defeat and threw down their cards. And Luca suddenly found herself with the biggest pot as Maurice happily petted and snuggled with the rock.

"How does that happen?" Luca said blankly.

Penguin sighed, "he'll find something interesting that he _has_ to have. Damn, I was hoping he would want my rubber bands."

"Last time he wanted Bepo's clothespins." Shachi said.

Luca's head reeled slightly. "How did a rock end up here anyway? We're underwater."

"It was in my pocket." Shachi deadpanned.

The door to the galley opened and Law strode through, Bepo trailing him with the nodachi over one shoulder. "We're going to Fishman Island." Law announced.

There was a split second of silence before Shachi and Penguin let out cries of joy, Luca let a small smile grace her lips—_Finally!—_and Maurice continued to snuggle with his newly acquired rock. "I felt like we've been down here forever." Shachi commented as they all stood and stretched.

"Get used to it." Penguin replied. "We're going to be underwater for a bit longer and then Fishman Island!" Pink spots appeared on his cheeks. "Where the mermaids live!"

"Mermaids!" Shachi squealed. The two of them slung arms and practically jumped in joy at the thought of the famed mermaids of Fishman Island.

Behind Law, Bepo perked up slightly. "Girl bears?"

"SHADDUP BEPO!"

"HEY!" Luca barked but she didn't really mean anything by it anymore. After all this time, she had gotten used to the crew members and they had accepted her with open arms. She shook her head and reached up to give Bepo an affection pat on the head before her gaze traveled to Law. Their eyes met for a for a moment and then Luca looked away. "Anyway, I'm really glad we're going." Luca commented before leaving the room, completely aware of Law's eyes trained on her back.

He'd been doing that lately. Whenever they found themselves in the same room, his eyes would drift over to her and stare for almost a minute before she would give in and look back at him. She had no idea _why_ he was doing it, probably trying to get a rise out of her. Thankfully, she had warmed up to the crew and Law and fully accepted her position in the Heart Pirates. But she couldn't help feel like Law had been disappointed that she wasn't trying to tear into his throat anymore. Probably because he found it so entertaining. Jerk.

She opened the door and walked into the control room where Jean Bart was currently piloting the sub. "Hey." She greeted.

He grunted in return, focusing on the empty space of water in front of them. Personally, Luca didn't like this room very much. It was the large view in front of them, where they could see into the vast ocean. She didn't like it when they were so deep that no light penetrated the depths except for the lights coming from the sub. And there was also the fact that Luca was terrified that a very large sea king would show up and eat them. Yeah, that was a bit alarming and cause for concern. "Law said we're going to Fishman Island?" She asked hopefully.

"We are. We've been heading for the Red Line for the past two days." At least Law could have shared that piece of information.

"Good." Luca sighed. She wondered, was the ship coated? Since it was a submarine, maybe it didn't need to be. "Can this thing stand going down to ten-thousand meters?"

"This sub can withstand any pressure." The door opened and Law stepped through. Bepo had left and Law's nodachi was now slung over his own shoulder. "We won't have any problems going down but I took the opportunity to have the ship coated anyway."

"Why?"

Law shot her a grin. "To see what's out there."

A stone settled itself somewhere in her gut as she swallowed dryly. "Oh."

"What's the point of sitting around when there's entertainment outside?" Law's grin turned into a smirk.

What was the point of watching Sea Kings eat each other or decide that a tender, yellow sub looked delicious? Luca suppressed a shudder. "Well have fun." She commented lamely and tried to sidle past Law. She was going to crawl into her bed and shove her head under her pillow and try not to think about sea kings eating them.

Law's hand shot out and grasped her upper arm, halting her. "You're not going anywhere, c'mon." He walked out of the room, pulling her along.

"Hey! Let go!" Luca protested. Law ignored her. "I don't want to see the life outside!" She whined and their footsteps faded away.

Jean Bart shook his head and smiled. "Kids."

-x-

Luca didn't really try to fight back, she knew it'd be impossible to worm her way out of it anyway. And Law's grip on her arm was firm. He pushed open the door to the deck and they walked out. Luca's jaw dropped. "Whoa."

The sea around them was dark but not pitch black. Instead of Sea Kings, Luca saw whales. Most of them were huge, dwarfing their little sub, but they were extremely pretty. Luca stared at the white belly of a whale swimming above them. If it had been on land, it would've squashed them into a really fine paste. She walked over to the railing to get a better look and realized why she didn't see them in the control room. They were sailing at the bottom of the pod. "Aww." She smiled when she spotted a baby whale, swimming close to its mother.

"It's nice, huh?" Law commented as he joined her at the railing. "We've been following them for a while now."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but he was looking at one of the larger whales. "Why?"

"They swim pretty close to the Red Line. Sea Kings won't attack a pod of whales." He explained. "Once we're close enough, we'll be able to get on a descending current to where the deep currents are."

Luca nodded slightly, Cayenne had explained the currents to her a long time ago. She remembered that eventually when you get on a deep current, you can ride it all the way to Fishman Island but you had be careful, else the ship could crash or Sea Kings attack and then you'd die. At least down here it would be quick. The baby whale swam up to the sub and Luca squealed in delight as it curiously prodded the bubble with its nose. If she could, she would reach right out to pet it.

A deep chuckle brought her out of her cuteness high and a blush rose to her cheeks when she saw Law staring at her, amusement evident on his face. "Hey, baby animals are cute." She snapped, her blush deepening.

"I didn't say anything." He replied coolly but his smirk wouldn't disappear. "I hope he doesn't pop the bubble. That would be unfortunate."

A vision of water crushing down on the both of them had another shudder rising through her. Not that she didn't mind going to Fishman Island, but the idea of being surrounded by such a tremendous force of water pressure unnerved her. The little whale must have thought the bubble was some sort of toy because (and Luca swore she could see the mirth in its eyes) it happily nudged it some more. "Please don't break the bubble." She whispered but her heart warmed at the sight. It was so cute.

This time, Law laughed outright. She sent an unamused glance at him but deep down, she couldn't help but think that he had a nice laugh. _Alright, let's squash that thought to the deepest corners of my mind._ "There's nothing wrong with asking him not to break our only lifeline."

"You're just too funny." She made a face at him and he laughed a little more, his shoulders shaking slightly. And then she couldn't help it either, she laughed too. Just a little.

"Oh wow! Whales!" She heard Shachi squeal behind her and immediately she stopped laughing, her face a furious red.

Penguin also showed his appreciation for the whales and ran up to the baby whale and made mooing noises that Luca guessed was supposed to be whale speak. And then she laughed again. "Isn't he adorable." Penguin cooed.

At least she wasn't the only one who thought the whales were cute. Shachi was trying to get the attention of the baby whale while Penguin was still trying to speak to it. The tug-of-war went on for a moment before a loud wail from the pod made them stop. The little whale left the bubble alone and swam back to his mother. "Aww..." Shachi deflated. "We got scolded."

It was too much for her. She pressed her palm against her mouth in order to stifle her giggles but soon she was full out laughing and holding onto the railing to keep herself from failing over. "You guys are too much!"

"Luca's laughing!" She heard someone shout.

She looked back at them and saw them all grinning at her. Her eyes slowly traveled to Law who was smirking at her with a mysterious look on his face. "Hi." She wheezed out as she tried to calm her breathing.

"You're so funny, Luca." Shachi said joyously. He threw his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her affectionately.

"Hey. The whales are leaving." Bepo pointed at the whales who were swimming off.

"Where are they going?" Luca shrugged Shachi's arm off as he stared sadly at the departing whales.

"They don't have a need to go so deep." Law stated. His head jerked in the direction in front of them. "We're here."

Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight in front of them: a huge circular waterfall. "Is that the way to the deep currents?" Penguin asked.

Law nodded. "That's our way to Fishman Island."

"Whoa," was the only thing Luca could think to say. What would happened if they crashed in _that_?

Law pulled a den-den mushi out of his pocket and spoke into it. "Keep going Jean Bart. We're going straight down to the bottom." He turned away as Jean Bart 'rogered' back and called, "hold onto something. This might get rough."

"I hope he knows what he's doing." Luca gritted her teeth as she grabbed onto the rails. They tilted forward as they rode on the deep current, picking up speed as they went. Suddenly, they were vertical and hurtling down and down into the depths. _Holy ever-loving shit!_ Luca's feet nearly lifted from the floor of the deck and she held on tighter, she didn't know if that bubble could hold her if she flew off. Something hit her arm and she craned her neck up to see a rope.

"Tie that around your waist!" She heard Shachi shout. Luca gave a slight nod and wrapped one leg around a railing pole, hooking it tightly as she wrapped the long rope around her waist. Her hip bone bumped painfully against the railing, she'd have bruises by the time this was over (and just after she was all healed too.) In the distance, she heard Penguin shriek, whether in terror or in glee, she didn't know. _Let this be over soon._ Luca prayed as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Big mistake.

They came to a violent stop. Luca lurched forward and face-planted onto the deck, the rope kept her from falling more but it was painfully tight. She cracked her eyes open and groaned, besides the illumination of the lights on the sub, it was even darker than it was before. Hastily, she untied the rope and looked around. Her face paled as she made out the _large_ shapes around them.

Eels, jellyfish, large fish with giant teeth, and more. Some didn't even have eyes and she realized they probably didn't need them, it was so dark. "Wow." Shachi murmured. "These guys could take on Sea Kings."

"Uh-huh." Luca swallowed nervously as one came up close enough for them to see its one eye staring at them.

"Brighten the lights!" Law barked, at the lights got brighter. The large eel that had been looking at them swam away quickly. "Probably thinks we're an anglerfish." He commented, walking over to them. He looked slightly pale.

"Anglerfish?" Luca asked.

"It's a fish found in deep waters. It has a light attached to it to lure in prey." He explained. His eyes swept up and down her body. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just a few bruises but nothing major. But Law," he looked at her, "let's not do that again."

"Hopefully we won't have to. We're roughly seven thousand meters deep."

"Three thousand to go." Luca said under her breath.

Law nodded and turned his attention to his den-den mushi. "Let's keep moving. We don't want to attract the predators."

So many interesting creatures passed them by, a lot of them ended up trying to eat each other. The jellyfish, as they found, were poisonous when one eel tried to eat one but died. It scared her how easily the fish swam and interacted with them while they were trying so hard to navigate the deep underworld. "Captain, what's that?" Bepo pointed to billowing smoke clouds ahead of them.

"Underwater volcanoes. Quickly, Jean Bart." He said into the den-den mushi, "who knows if these things are stable."

"Is this the right way?" Luca asked, coming up behind him.

"Fishman Island should be beyond this, hopefully there will be another way down." The two of them peered over the edge down into the valley of volcanoes. It was almost majestic with their towering pillars and the smoke wafting out of them. It was an amazing sight, really. Smoke underwater.

"It is quite amazing." She whispered. Many times, when she thought about leaving Sabaody, she never thought about going down to Fishman Island. Why would she want to explore her known world when there was another world down here?

"There!" Someone shouted. Beyond the volcano valley, there was what looked like a drop-off.

"Is that it?" Luca asked Law.

"We're at eight thousand. This has to be the last leg."

"It's dark." They were looming above another dark chasm and quickly lowering down.

"This should be it." She heard Law mutter. Everyone else was oddly silent, all of them were waiting with bated breath as Jean Bart lowered them down and down. They pierced the darkness and kept going but suddenly...

"Hey..." Luca said slowly. "Is it getting... brighter?" Indeed it was, the area around then was starting to become brighter. They could make out the rock wall behind them and... "Are those tree trunks?" Luca gasped.

It appeared before them: Fishman Island. It was encased in a large bubble, with a small bubble on top, nestled in between tree trunks larger than any tree Luca had seen. Whales and Sea Kings swam around it lazily.

"FISHMAN ISLAND!" Shachi shrieked in glee. "MERMAIDS!"

"Oh my god, we're going to see the _mermaids_!"

"Mermaaaaids!"

"We've died, haven't we? We died on the way here and now this is heaven!"

_Idiots._ Luca thought but she didn't have the heart to tell them off. All men had dreams of coming down to the legendary island under the sea to see the most beautiful creatures in the world. Personally, Luca had been a fan of the stories of mermaids luringsailors into the water with their songs only to drown them and take their souls.

Law smirked and raised the den-den mushi to his mouth once more. "Full speed ahead! To Fishman Island!" This last statement was greeted by cheers from everyone.

They speedily made their way to the circular opening on the side of the bubble, where the entrance would be.

-x-

"You will _halt_!" The sub stopped at the sound of a ferocious roar.

The gates had remained closed to them and in a moment, there was a large fishman in armor standing in front of them. "These gates are closed to all outsiders!" He announced.

"WHAT!?"

_Of course, with Whitebeard's death, Fishman Island has to be going through turmoil. He was the only thing protecting them._

"If you are here to stock up on supplies for the New World, you may enter!" _Well that just contradicted the previous statement._ "You may only pass through on the way to the New World, you will not be able to take anything from Fishman Island _back_ to the Grand Line!" _Probably to keep slavers from kidnapping them._ "All those with business will agree to stay within the Coral Hills district lest they be arrested! Do you agree to these terms?" The fishman looked at them expectantly.

"We do!" Law stated clearly and loudly.

"Well then..." The doors before them opened. "Welcome to Fishman Island!"

"That was weird." Luca said while they went through. "I was half expecting to be thrown out."

"They wouldn't. I heard Big Mom gave Fishman Island her protection."

Luca stared at him. "How did you hear that?"

He shrugged. "I have connections."

"Well, as long as we can get going soon, I wanna get to the surface as soon as—"

She was cut off as a force that felt like a ton of bricks hit her full on. She was blasted off her feet and water engulfed her, cutting off her air. She choked and spluttered and tried to get her bearings but the water was merciless as it tossed her around like a rag doll until her body couldn't handle the abuse anymore and she blacked out.

-x-

Law stood up shakily, the freak tidal wave had blasted him off his feet and immobilized him but luckily he had been caught by the railings of the sub, else he would have been sent hurtling to who knows where. "Captain!" Penguin was by his side helping him stand. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he replied and looked around. "Where did that come from?"

"We don't know. It just hit us!"

"Is everyone okay?" He demanded.

"Just sore but okay."

Everyone else gave their affirmative that they were okay and no one was in need of medical attention. But two voices did not sound, causing Law to take another look at the people on deck. "Where's Luca and Bepo?"

"Huh?" Shachi peered at all the faces. "They were here on deck!"

"Were they taken by the wave?"

"LUCA!"

Law's stomach clenched in fear as he bolted over to the side of the sub and looked at their surroundings. The polar bear and the only female crew member were nowhere to be seen.

They were gone.

-x-

**And that concludes chapter fourteen! I promise I will make a significant effort to pick up the pace. I know you all want to see Luca and Cayenne again and I'll try not to disappoint!**

**By the way, who else is enjoying the current arc? I'm just loving all the information and Law's screen time!**

**Please feel free to drop a review, it would mean so much to me!**


	15. L: Hatred

**Thanks guys for all the reviews last chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

"_Luca! It's getting dark out, time to come in."_

_A small girl with dirt smudges on her face and tangled blonde hair pouted. "But Moooooom."_

"_No buts, missy." Her mother came around the corner of the house, hands on her hips. Strands of dark blonde hair were falling out of her ponytail and there was flour on her face._

"_Are the cookies done, Mom?" Luca asked eagerly, her bucket lying forgotten in the sandbox._

"_Maybe." Her mom teased. "Go inside and get washed and I might just let you have one before bed."_

_Luca squealed in delight before racing up the porch steps into the house. Her mom sighed and shook her head in slight exasperation before following her daughter. Inside, Luca was hopping around on one foot trying to get a sandal off. "What kind of cookies, Mom?"_

"_Oh, just chocolate chip." She shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen. "Wash up first! And get into your pajamas." She called over her shoulder._

"_Okay!" Luca went up the stairs to her room but not before hearing her mother say something to her dad._

"_Honestly, Lucas. Is it too much to ask for some help in cleaning up?"_

"_Go 'way Mara."_

_-x-_

Luca's eyes snapped open. How long has it been since she had a dream about her childhood? _I guess that freak wave did a lot of damage._ She groaned as she sat up. Her entire body hurt, especially her head. She sat still for a moment, trying to gain feeling back in her legs before attempting to stand. "Where am I?" She whispered.

All around her were coral and rocks and some small tide pools. But what made her jaw drop was the fact the she was right by the bubble wall. "What is that?" She stood up for a better look. All she could see were more rocks covered in algae because it was so dark (so the sunlight didn't reach here?). But she _could_ make out an enormous shape. It was huge. Was it a ship? She had never seen one so big.

A rock pile a few feet to her left moved and she heard. "Ow..." A white paw stuck out of the rocks.

"Bepo!" Luca cried and ran over to the buried polar bear. After pulling some rocks off of him, she helped him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head vigorously, spraying Luca with salt water, before saying, "yeah."

"We went a long way. _Where_ did that tidal wave come from anyway?"

"I dunno." The bear stared at her, and shook his head again, trying to get more of the water off of him.

Luca giggled at the sight. "Bepo." A set of black button eyes looked at her. "You have seaweed wrapped around your ear. Here, let me." She stood on tip-toe (her sore muscles screamed in protest) to pull the long piece of green seaweed off him.

"Thanks Luca."

"So." She dropped the seaweed and put her hands on her waist. "What say you we try and make our way back to Law and the others?"

"Where would they be?"

"Judging by the big bubble behind us, I'd say we're on the outermost edge of the island. So, we should work our way that way," Luca pointed in front of them at the large rock formation. "And see if we can get back to wherever Law should have docked."

"Okay!" The two of them set forward to climb the large rock and hopefully find Law and the rest of the crew.

Before anything bad happened.

-x-

"Agh, what do we do, Captain?" Shachi was pacing. "Luca is...!"

"Calm down." Law interrupted. "We can't do anything for them by panicking." Even as he said it, worry coiled in his gut. Wherever she and Bepo landed, they were in Fishman Island. The entire place was full of fear and hatred of humans. Sure, the mermaids and most fishmen were kind enough but they were sheltered. The fishman who _really_ hated them were on the outskirts. Those were the fishmen who were eager to pay the favor back for all the years of slavery and hatred.

He should know. He'd seen it, been part of it.

"They could be really hurt!" Penguin was saying, he was looking at the way the wave had gone as if trying to judge the distance between them and Luca and Bepo.

"Alright." Law said, all eyes turned to him. "You guys will stay here with sub and keep an eye out in case they come back. _No_ going off to find mermaids, do you understand?" There was a collective groan. "They can wait until Luca and Bepo are back. Shachi, you'll come with me." Shachi nodded and followed the Captain.

The rest of the crew filed back onto the sub, some lounged on the deck, scanning the people around them as if in hopes that Luca and Bepo miraculously appear.

"Captain!" Shachi hurried after Law. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to see if we can get to wherever they are." Back when they first entered, the guard made them agree that they wouldn't go beyond Coral Hills. Even with Big Mam's protection, the residents were still on edge. He could feel the suspicious glares bore into his back. "Don't gawk, Shachi. The last thing we want is them to get suspicious."

"Right." Shachi said nervously but he gasped loudly when he spotted a young mermaid float along on a bubble. "A mermaid, Captain!" Quickly, his face became very red.

Suddenly, Law missed Bepo very, very much.

-x-

"I think that way looks promising." Bepo pointed in the direction where the water was.

The two of them had managed to climb up the rock (Bepo had to hoist Luca up some of the way) and from their vantage point, they could make out where they were. By the looks of it, the tidal wave carried them to the east of the island. So if they made their way west they could—hopefully—find fishfolk who could give them a hand in finding Law. "Let's go." Luca agreed and hopped down from the rock. _I hope nothing goes wrong._

-x-

"Aw man. Who knew this would happen on our visit to Fishman Island!" Penguin complained, slumped over the railing of the sub. "We could be sitting in the famous Mermaid Café right now!" A blush rose to his cheeks. "I wanna go down there!" He wailed, scaring some of the merfolk below them.

"You're not." Jean Bart said firmly from his place (blocking the ramp). Before Penguin could reprimand the newcomer he continued, "Captain's orders."

"But mermaids! The most beautiful creatures in the world!" Penguin protested.

Jean Bart fixed him with a frigid stare. "Captain Law said we need to stay here in case Luca and Bepo come back. What if one of them is injured and need help?"

A vision of a little Luca surrounded by evil fishmen with glowing eyes, screaming "help me, Penguin!" surfaced in his mind but was quickly replaced by an actual battered and bloodied Luca. "You're right," Penguin deflated. Even if they were here for only a short time, Luca was their only female companion. "Stay safe, Luca!" Penguin roared to the sky.

"What about Bepo?" Jean Bart asked.

Penguin ignored him.

-x-

"YOU WILL HALT!" A fishman in what looked like a guard's uniform stood in front of Law and Shachi with crossed arms—he had four of them. "All humans are not allowed pass this point!"

"If you'll excuse me," Law said carefully. "When we were coming in, a tidal wave hit my ship and I lost two crew members. We were hoping to go find them."

The fishman hesitated at this. "That damn Hody!" He caught himself. "I'm sorry. No humans pass this point!"

"Why you—!" Shachi nearly growled but Law held out an arm to stop him.

"We'll respect your wishes." Law said quietly. With a firm hand on Shachi's shoulder they walked away from the guard.

"Captain!" The redhead protested.

"We won't be able to help Luca and Bepo by fighting against the people here. They're on edge, we don't need to give them a reason to make things harder for Luca."

"Harder for Luca?"

"Luca is in the middle of an island where prejudice, fear, and hatred run deep. They're all on edge because Whitebeard, their only protector for years, has died. Wherever she is, she's going to run into people who will object to her mere presence." Law gritted his teeth. "She's in danger."

-x-

"I spy with my little eye... something green!"

"Bepo, you've been picking seaweed for the last twenty minutes." Luca groaned.

Bepo's ears lowered. "Sorry."

_Why is he so friggin cute?_ "It's okay. Let's stop the 'I spy' games for a while, hm?"

"Okay."

Slowly, they began to see houses and signs of life but not much. Fishmen darted around corners when they saw them coming but Luca could feel their eyes trained on them. "They're staring." Bepo whimpered, "sorry!"

A clatter behind them made Luca look around but she saw nothing but she knew something was there. "Bepo..." She said nervously and pressed herself into the bear's side. "They're not looking at you." She heard footsteps and they slowly stopped. "They're looking at _me_."

Within seconds they were surrounded. She had seen the looks on their faces before but it had been worn by humans when looking at fishmen: disgust and hatred. And all of it was directed at her. _So this is was absolute hatred feels like._ She thought. "We just want to pass. We don't want any trouble." Luca tried to say calmly.

"Disgusting little human, you thought you could walk wherever you pleased when you're only supposed to be in Coral Hills." One sneered.

"We didn't do it on purpose." Luca tried again. "A tidal wave took us off our ship."

That had the opposite effect that she wanted. They _laughed_. "I'll be damned, Hody! You gave us one!" One howled. They were positively laughing with glee. This was not good.

She didn't know who Hody was but at this point, she really didn't care. "Bepo." Hhe murmured. "I hope you're on par with fishmen."

In that moment, Bepo shoved her to the ground and she instinctively rolled away as the bear blocked a kick from one of the fishmen. Bepo, however, was only one bear and Luca scrambled away from another fishman who punched the ground, creating a small crater where Luca's head had just been. She leapt to her feet to avoid a kick and then flipped backwards to avoid another punch. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bepo kick away two fishmen. _Okay, so he is on par with them._ Luca thought briefly before ducking. Her hands found a metal pipe. She gripped it and swung. It connected with one of the fishmen's knees but it didn't do much.

Luca had to quickly drop the pipe and flip again before she received a punch to the head. _But I'm not._ Her stomach dropped. Of course, how could a nineteen year old woman whose best fighting ability stemmed from bar brawls on Sabaody fight evenly with a fishman? Her best bet was to dodge and come up with a way to get away from them. But how long could she hold out?

Not long, she found out when one threw the same pipe she used at her, causing her to get knocked off balance. She tripped and fell down. Open mouthed, she looked up at the oncoming fist. _Where's this haki when I need it?_

Almost as if in slow motion she saw an orange blur slam into the fishman. "Fishman Karate..." She heard. "Hundred tile true punch!" The fishman went flying. Luca barely had time to register what happen before she was picked up and slung over a shoulder. "Bear! Over here!" The person holding her roared. She was dropped onto a bubble bike and the moment Bepo was on, they were racing off. _I didn't know a bubble bike could move this fast._

She looked up and her mouth dropped open. "Y-you!" She croaked in disbelief. She recognized the orange skin and the white stripe running across his nose.

The fishman merely grinned at her. "You look good, Luca." It was Gill, a clown fish fishman, and the third and final bartender of _The Sea King_.

-x-

"You're lucky I was in the area or you could've been seriously injured or dead." Gill said as they drove on.

"No kidding." Luca said, Bepo's arms encircled her waist. Whether to keep steady or make sure she was alright, she didn't know. "What was that?"

"Things have changed dramatically since Whitebeard died." Gill said. "We feared the worst but then Charlotte Linlin, Big Mam, gave us her protection on the condition that we provide ten tons of candy every month. We breathed easily after that but something's up. We haven't gotten much human visitors here in nearly a month."

"How is that strange? It was really hard getting here." Luca commented.

"Most pirate crews _can_ get here, but there will still be evidence of them crashing on the way and there will be bodies. So far, we've only seen the ships and no bodies."

"And that's weird?"

"There are _always_ bodies, Luca. And even when humans get down here, their ship or even the crew are always attacked."

"When we got here, we were hit by a tidal wave. That's why Bepo and I are all the way out here." Luca remembered.

"I think it's Hody."

"Hody? One of those fishmen mention a Hody." Bepo spoke.

"He's the captain of the New Fishman Pirates. And they're completely against humans. We've seen bad prejudice before but these last few years we've been striving ahead with our relations with the above world." Gill explained. "But Hody _hates_ humans."

"So he's the one attacking humans?"

"I can't prove it but I think so."

"Where are we?" Luca directed the conversation away from this Hody. After all, they _were_ on the infamous Fishman Island.

"We're heading into the Coral Hills. That's where pirates are allowed to dock. Hopefully we can find whoever you're with. I'll get you guys a New World Log Pose so you can get going as quickly as possible."

"What? Not even a tour?"

"Sorry, Luc. I promise you when things calm down I'll give you the grand tour. After all, if you want to go back to the first half of the Grand Line, you'll have to pass through here."

"Judging by the reactions from everyone, they'd be happy to come back." Luca said jokingly. Shachi and Penguin would leap at the chance to spend time with the mermaids.

"By the way, who're you with—?" Something hit them and the three of them went flying. "Shit!" Luca heard Gill say. "That was a water bullet."

"Gill! _You traitorous scrum!_" Luca looked up to see a yellow fishman with an elongated neck. "You're helping a _human_?"

"Hammond!" Gill stood up. "Leave her alone!"

The fishman called Hammond sneered. "How dare you abandon your pride as a fishman? You disgust me!"

"Damn!" Luca growled as she stood up. She noticed a shadow behind Gill. "Gill, behind!"

It was too late, the figure holding a sword slashed at him, striking Gill down. "Oh, Gill. How you have fallen." This fishman looked like an orange octopus and he was drinking out of a gourd. "We're kind of disappointed, you know."

"Ha!" Hammond howled. "Skin the bastard, Hyouzou!"

Hyouzou brought his sword back down into Gill and Luca saw blood spray out of him. "GILL!" She shrieked. She ran towards them. The octopus pulled out his sword and then brought it down again.

"Luca!" She heard Bepo shout distantly.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" She bellowed. The warm, tingly feeling coiled in her stomach. Tears were starting to stream down her face.

"Stay back, human." Hammond sneered.

The warm, tingly feeling was spreading. She reached Gill and put her arms around him before looking at Hyouzou, white, hot fury evident in her eyes. _"Disappear."_ Her haki burst out all around them, knocking the two New Fishman Pirates (and Bepo) back, damaging the rocks and houses around them, and even forming a small crater around her and Gill.

"Luca...?" Gill murmured.

"Gill!" There was blood everywhere.

Gill struggled to open his eyes. "What was... that?"

"Just... don't. Don't worry, I'll get you some help." Luca said desperately.

The fishman moaned. "Don't worry, Luca. I'll be okay." He winced.

"You're bleeding all over the place!"

-x-

A couple feet away, Bepo got to his feet. He shook his head and debris fell from it. "There it was again." Bepo said casually. He saw Luca crouched over the fishman, Gill, in a small crater. "It's gotten powerful." His ear perked up and he turned around. Instantly, a smile adorned his face. "Captain!"

-x-

"Where will be the closest place I can get you?" Luca asked, trying to keep Gill from bleeding out. His blood was all over her hands.

"Over by the... by the..." Gill wheezed.

"Oh no, you don't." Luca said firmly. She pressed down harder, trying to stop the flow.

"Luca." Her head snapped up to see Law standing over her and Gill. Luca broke out into a smile, she had never been so happy to see him.

"Law! Gill needs help." She begged.

"Who's this...?" The injured fishman tried to turn his head but groaned. How bad were his wounds?

"Why?" Law said calmly.

Her mind went blank. "What?"

"Why should I save him, Luca? I don't have a reason to."

"Law. Don't do this. He's a friend." Even from her spot, she could see apathy in Law's eyes. Panic began to take over. "Law, no. Don't do this." Her breathing became erratic, "LAW, _PLEASE_!" She wailed. She didn't want to see Gill die before her very eyes.

Law moved down and crouched next to her. "Okay." His hands encircled her arms. "I need you to let go so I can assess the damage." To Bepo and Shachi (who had just arrived) he said, "Bepo, Shachi, be ready to pick him up."

Even though she was still crying, Luca managed to wheeze out. "Thank you."

"Just keep calm Luca. We need to work fast, otherwise the guards will come." Law looked her in the eyes. "You're in shock. Keep calm."

She nodded and let go of Gill and sat back, allowing Law to look at her friend. _Don't die Gill, whatever you do, just don't die._

-x-

**I kind of didn't want to end on that note but I didn't see another way to end the chapter. Don't worry, I won't leave you on the edge of your seats for long.**

**How did I do with the fight scene? I'm not very good at them.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are most appreciated.**

**See you guys in chapter sixteen!**


	16. L: Gill

**I'm back with chapter sixteen! I'm sorry I didn't get this out when I wanted to. School and work overwhelmed me and so I didn't have much time to write and I wasn't entirely sure on where I wanted this chapter to go. It's getting harder and harder to write since I have a two-year gap to fill.**

**But I want to thank you guys, this story is past 150 reviews! Thank you so much for your support and dealing with my horrid updating schedule. It really means a lot to me.**

**So, let's get on with chapter sixteen! Enjoy!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

"_Luc, come over here a sec'." Tez called._

_A seventeen year old Luca (whose hair was now a bright red) looked over her shoulder. "In a minute!" She shouted. She put the rest of the drinks down on the table. "Here you are, boys."_

"_Here, here!" The rowdy men said cheerfully._

_Luca turned away from them and walked over to Tez who gestured her into the back room. "Luca. This is Gill." Standing in the middle of the room was a bright orange fishman with a small square face, and a white strip running across the bridge of his nose. He looked nervous to be here, his eyes kept flitting from Luca and Tez to the door._

_Luca stuck a hand out. "Hi." She said simply. Gill returned her handshake, his hand was cold and not scaly at all._

"_Gill's going to be working here as a bartender from now on." Tez said._

_-x-_

_**CRASH!**_

"_Sorry!" Gill cried as the tray of drinks fell from his hands._

"_You stupid fish!" The man roared at Gill. Gill shrunk back._

"_Hey!" Luca barked and made her way over. "Apologize!"_

"_I'm not going to apologize to a fish!"_

_Luca's brown eyes darkened considerably. "Apologize, _now_." The man smirked at Luca, he was obviously underestimating her. And he didn't know the reputation of the Sea King bartenders. And a roundhouse kick to the face fixed that._

"_And don't come back until you learn some manners!" Luca shouted as she threw the bloodied and beaten man out the door. There were some cheers from the other customers who just witnessed the beating Luca gave the man. She mockingly bowed to them and went back to the bar._

"_You didn't have to do that," Gill approached her quietly._

"_We don't tolerate things like that here, Gill." Luca said shortly. "Neither Tez nor I give a damn if you're a fishman. You're a bartender here and that's what counts." She smiled at him. "We're friends and coworkers and we look out for each other."_

_He was stunned for a moment, he never had a human call him a friend before. "Thanks."_

_-x-_

Gill was alive. If Law hadn't acted in that moment, they could have lost him. Law emerged from the operating room wiping blood from his hands. He didn't spare Luca a look, merely walked past and down the hall into his office. Luca didn't say anything to him either and she slipped into the room. Gill lay prone on the table, eyes closed but he was breathing. She let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry Gill." She whispered and touched his hand. It was cold. That was to be expected of a fishman but it wasn't clammy. Which was good, Gill had told her about the differences between human and fishman anatomy when he got comfortable being around her.

The door opened. "How mad is he?"

"Not so much as mad as he is irritated." Shachi replied. "He really didn't have a reason to save your friend."

"His name's Gill." Luca shot back heatedly. "I though all doctors were sworn to save all those they could..."

"Captain's not like most doctors."

"I figured." Luca said glumly. The look in Law's eyes as she pleaded with him to save Gill... They were detached. He had been looking at her for signs of injury, ignoring the bleeding fishman right next to him. Before now she had been warming up to him, thinking he was a likeable man. But now, she suppressed a shudder, what was he really like?

"Get some rest." Shachi sidled up next to her. "I'll watch him." Luca looked at him questioningly. "You've had a long day, you need the rest." His jaw tightened. "We've been lenient with you since you're new but Captain doesn't like it when his crew runs themselves ragged. Health is a big priority around here. And trust me, you do _not_ want to be on his bad side if you get reckless."

For a moment, she wanted to argue. Gill was her responsibility, she was the one who persuaded Law to save him. But the day's events were catching up to her and her head felt sluggish. She nodded once. "Okay."

She exited the room and rubbed her eyes. Now that she was thinking of it, she did feel really tired. And she could practically hear her bed calling to her. Shachi was watching over Gill, surely Gill would be alright. Her feet shuffled and she yawned. Yes, bed would be best. But instead, she stopped at a door.

Huh, that wasn't _her_ door. It took her a moment but when she recognized it, she felt slightly more alert. It was the door to Law's office and the only room she hadn't been in yet. Why was she standing here? The door to her room was a few more hallways down. The look on Law's face as he passed her flashed through her mind and she chewed on her lip. Without thinking—she didn't want to think—she raised a fist and tapped twice.

"Come in."

-x-

It was tidier than she expected. In the middle of the square room sat a desk and when Luca was expecting to see papers everywhere, she was surprised to see a fairly large textbook and small piles of paper stacked neatly on the surface. On one of the corners, an organ (which was probably a kidney, judging by its size) floated gently in a jar and his nodachi leaned against the side of the desk. There were two doors opposite each other and on each side of the room. Luca took in those details in less than forty-five seconds and her brown eyes landed on Law lounging behind the desk. He looked at her, eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat so it was impossible to tell if he was still irritated. "Yes?"

She took a breath. "Thank you." Law didn't move or say anything so she continued on. "For saving Gill. I know you didn't have a reason to save him but he really means a lot to me and I would've felt awful if he died and—"

Law interrupted, "how much?"

"Excuse me?"

Law pushed his chair back and stood up. "How much is his life worth to you?"

She narrowed her eyes, feeling more and more awake by the second. "Are you asking me to pay you?"

He slowly walked around the desk, stalking over to her. "No." He was less than three feet away. "But I don't do someone a service free of charge."

"So then... what do you want?"

He looked thoughtful and took another few steps closer. "I don't know just yet." Another step. "But know this Luca." He was a foot away now. "You owe me and I will expect you to pay it in full in a moment of my choosing."

Law was so close, she stared into his dark grey eyes. For a second, she felt like she was back in her house, trapped against the wall. "I understand." A wave of glee passed through her at the sight of surprise in his eyes. "You saved Gill, I really am thankful for that." His mouth set into a thine line, the small smile was gone. She continued, "I'll pay my debt back to you in full." There was a long moment of silence between them. Luca fidgeted but didn't say anything else. Law didn't seem perturbed, merely stood there examining her.

She found herself examining him too. Her eyes trailed down his nose and his cheeks. She looked at his sideburns and then to the tuft of hair on his chin. Finally, she rested her eyes on his lips. _His lips seem very soft._ She thought unconciously.

The gab between them was slowing shortening. Luca blinked, Law's lips looked so... _wait, what?_ She pulled back abruptly, eyes wide.

Law blinked once. "I'll expect you to." He walked away and back to his desk. He didn't even seem perturbed at what just almost happened.

"Er, right." She said awkwardly and scrambled out of the office. Outside, she stood in shock. _Was I just seriously contemplating _kissing_ Law? _Luca slapped her cheeks. "I need sleep." She shook her head and ambled towards her bedroom.

-x-

"_Item number twenty-three!" Luca was back in the auction house. "Another human female, nineteen years old: Luca!"_

_Luca flinched at the sight of the nobles looming over her. They grinned, flashing sharp teeth. She was rooted to the spot by chains and could only look on in horror as the nobles began to bid._

"_Six-hundred thousand__!"_

"_Six-hundred, fifteen-thousand__!"_

"_Six-hundred, ninety-thousand__!"_

_No, this was not happening. Luca squeezed her eyes shut trying to block them out but the voices grew louder and louder, screaming out numbers._

"_Eight-hundred thousand__." Law's calm voice broke through the voices. He was standing in the middle of the nobles, a smirk on his face._

_What was Law doing here? Luca tried to ask but she couldn't form the words. Her chains tightened as Law pulled on them, bringing her closer to him. There was a teasing but predatory look in his eye as he brought her against him. "You belong... to me." He whispered and his mouth descended down towards hers..._

"_LUCA!" Law was gone and a battered and bloodied Gill lay before her. "Run..." He croaked._

"_You goddamn pirate!" Luca turned and screamed when she saw Akainu's magma fist coming down to kill her. She flung her arms over her head and ducked. Akainu disappeared._

_A pair of brown eyes, several shades lighter than Luca's own peered at her in the darkness. "Luca..." A warm voice whispered across the desolation._

Luca jolted in bed, gasping for breath. What the _hell_ was that? _Did I hit my head harder than I thought?_ She dreamed about the auction house before, it was an experience she couldn't forget easily. But those dreams usually ended being sold off to an unnamed noble and receiving the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon on her back. Law had never shown up until before. She laid back down and tried not to think about Law's closeness in both her dream and reality.

-x-

Gill slowly opened his eyes and flinched away from the bright lights. He groaned. The hard, metal surface was not doing wonders for his back. "You're awake!" Someone said brightly. A figure wearing a cap obstructed the light shining above him. "How're you feeling?" Gill groaned. "Better than nothing, I suppose. I'll go get Captain. Don't move." The figure was gone.

What happened? It came back to him in pieces. The shock that went through him when he spotted Luca. (It took him a little bit to recognize her, her hair was purple last time he saw her). Saving her and her bear companion. The bubble bike, explaining Hody to her, the attack, and a sword slicing into him. At that, he winced and pain shot through his torso.

"Don't move." A cool voice said. Gill lifted to his head to see a tall man, wearing a yellow and black sweatshirt, and a white hat close the door behind him. "You'll open your wound."

Gill blinked, he recognized that face. "You're the Surgeon of Death." He said quietly. Trafalgar Law said nothing, merely looked at him. "You saved my life?"

"Luca insisted."

"Luca, where is she?" At this, Gill sat up and groaned again.

"Don't. Move." Law spoke again and walked closer to the fishman.

"It's fine." Gill insisted. "Where's Luca?"

"Probably still asleep." The man stated. He turned around to grab some gloves. "I'll need to check your wound to see how you're healing."

"Of course." While he had heard rather nasty rumors about the pirate doctor if Luca knew him, he had to be trustworthy. "How did you meet her?"

"I bought her at the slave auction and press-ganged her into my crew." He deadpanned.

An uncomfortable silence settled in the room while Law undid the bandages to check the stitches. What happened to Luca? She had never been captured by slavers. "How did she end up in the auction house?" He asked.

"No idea."

The uncomfortable silence descended again. Gill fidgeted while Law put fresh bandages over the stitches. "You're healing well." He remarked.

"Thank you. Is Luca here against her will?" He asked, he needed to know. She had looked out for him and he would look out for her if he needed to.

"No. She joined of her own will." Law replied.

"Good." Gill nodded.

Law didn't say anything but headed back for the door. "Get some rest." He called over his shoulder. "I'll tell Luca you're up. She'll want to see you."

-x-

"He's awake." Was all that he told her when he found her. Her brown eyes lit up and she rushed past him.

"How's he doing Captain?" Bepo approached, Luca had been petting his ears just a moment ago.

"He'll live, by tomorrow we can drop him off wherever he wants to go and then we can continue on our way to the New World." Law was eager to get the fishman off his ship, he couldn't afford to have Luca distracted.

-x-

"Gill!" Luca burst into the infirmary.

"Luc!" Gill smiled at her.

"How're you feeling?"

"Better now." He replied enthusiastically. "So... the Heart Pirates?"

"It's a long story." She leaned against the table. By the way he was staring at her, he was expecting her to tell him anyway. "Cayenne and I got jumped and ended up at the auction house. Law bought me and the rest was history."

"You've never gotten caught by slavers before," Gill frowned at her.

"There's one thing slavers have an advantage of: numbers. They swarmed us." She shrugged her shoulders, "it could've been worse. A World Noble could have bought me and then I'd have the hoof on my back."

Gill nodded. "But you're fine here?"

"It's not as bad as I thought." She admitted. "I don't think Law's a bad person. The crew's been sociable enough."

"I could take you back to Sabaody if you want me to. Tez must be worried sick."

Luca shook her head. "Sorry Gill. I can't. Cayenne's waiting for me in the New World."

His eyes widened. "Cayenne?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's with Eustass Kid. I can't let Cayenne have all the adventure, can I?" She laughed but then she stopped. "What are _you_ going to do, Gill? I think that attack won't stop if you stay here."

He looked sad. "Yeah. Hody has an iron grip on the Fishman District. But he won't be able to reach the rest of the island yet. It's just a matter of time."

Luca placed her hands on Gill's. "Why don't you go back to Sabaody? I'm sure Tez will look after you."

Gill fidgeted. "But it's Sabaody."

"Never stopped you before. Tez is strong enough, they won't bother you. I just don't want you here while there's a chance you could get attacked."

"I'll think about it." Gill said. "This is my home, Luca. I can't just leave it so easily. If Law hadn't press-ganged you, would you have left Sabaody easily?"

She was quiet, when she thought about it she wasn't very keen to leave until she really thought about it. Sabaody never felt like a home, Tez, Gill, and Cayenne made it feel like a home. But when Cayenne disappeared, she knew it had to be time to go. And Law didn't give her much of a choice. "I guess I decided it was time." She said quietly.

He nodded. "I'll accept that."

-x-

True to Law's word, Gill was well enough to walk by himself the next day. And Law was lenient enough to accompany Gill and Luca to Gill's sister's apartment. "You have a sister?" Luca shrieked.

"You never asked?" Gill said sheepishly.

His sister turned out to a be a pretty clown fish mermaid with an orange tail that had black and white fins and orange and white streaked hair. "Gill!" She chirped in a high pitched tone and threw her arms around his neck in a hug. "Thank you ever so much for helping my brother!"

"No problem." Luca smiled. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me you had a sister."

"Gilly!" The mermaid whined. "He doesn't talk about his family much. He may not seem like it but Gilly's really shy! And I'm Marin by the way." She said all of this really fast.

_I think I see why._ Luca thought.

"I'm sorry to cut this short but we must be on our way." Law placed his hand on Luca's shoulder and nodded at Gill. "I want to get to the New World as soon as possible."

"Oh yeah." Gill untangled himself from his sister. "Marin, do you still have it?"

Marin beamed at him. "Of course!" She floated away on her bubble to another room before returning with something in her hands. "Tada! One New World Log Pose!"

She handed it to Law. It looked like a regular Log Pose but it was three of them in a piece of wood. "You're going to need that," Gill said. "Islands in the New World have their own magnetic pulls but sometimes some will disappear so you'll always have at least two other islands to go to."

"Why are the needles shaking?" Luca asked.

_-x-_

"The more the needle is shaking, the stronger the island." Law said, his eyes weren't straying from the needle that was shaking the most. He knew exactly what island it was pointing to. "Thank you Gill. Luca, let's go."

"Be careful!" Luca told Gill and gave him a brief hug before following Law out the door.

Law pocketed the Log Pose, he knew that once they entered the New World, he'd have to enact his plan as soon as possible. But he was a patient man, he couldn't rush this. He didn't need _him_ to catch onto him. He gave Luca a side glance, he supposed her detour would be a welcome distraction. It would give him a chance to go to more islands and prepare his _present_ for the World Government. And now more than ever, he needed to get Luca's loyalty. She was entering dangerous and unknown territory and if she wouldn't willingly give him everything she had to offer, his enemies would devour her.

He didn't know which was worse: the part of him that would let them or the part of him that would kill anyone who touched her.

-x-

Gill settled himself at the table where Marin had given him some food and a newspaper from above. "Pirates bring them." Marin explained.

So he set himself with learning what was happening above. Just because they had Big Mom's protection didn't mean they could ignore whatever else was happening. An article caught his eye and by the time he had finished reading it, he was smiling. "Luca was right, you are with Eustass Kid. "Bloody Tactician." I wonder what you're up to, Cayenne."

-x-

**And that wraps up this chapter. And next chapter we will be saying hello to Cayenne again. So what has she been doing to earn that nickname? We will see! Or rather, you will see. I already know.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are most appreciated! Also, I have a poll going on on my profile and I would love it if you guys took time to vote. It's nothing much, it's just to get an insight into my readers' minds.**

**Once again, thanks for reading!**


	17. C: The Next Island

**Note: This arc takes place shortly before Law and co. went to Fishman Island.**

**It has also come to my attention that Kidd's canonical name is Eustass Kid with one D. Do any of you really care if it's Kid or Kidd? I mean, I don't care either way but some might have a problem with the Kidd spelling.**

**Alright guys, I'm back. Why does it feel like I always take too long with Cayenne's chapters? I don't know. And thanks so much for the reviews last chapter, they make my heart soar!**

Enjoy!

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

To say Kid was in a bad mood was an understatement. He was livid. No one, not even Killer, dared to approach him in his quarters while he raged. Cayenne was almost expecting him to find the closest island and slaughter anyone he could get his hands out.

It was that bad.

She thought vaguely that Kid would be in a better mood once he performed a random act of violence somewhere. And that slightly disturbed her but she knew a calmer Kidd was preferable to a livid, in-a-murderous-rage Kid.

Funny how that didn't seem to bother her anymore. _It's this place,_ she decided, _it changes people_. After Hydrilla, she was surprised with how comfortable she was with Kid's destructive ways. However, she felt like she redeemed herself by making plans that would keep innocent civilians out of harm's way.

On the tradeoff, a lot of men lost their lives.

While she made the plans, Kid always made it clear to her that he was in charge by being as destructive as possible when acting out her plans. She was expecting a bounty raise for him soon.

_How long will it be until I get one?_ Cayenne wondered. People had been talking—if Hydrilla had been a clear point—about her and how she was the mastermind behind the power of the Kid Pirates (mastermind was a big stretch but the papers loved to talk.)

"He still in there?" Wire came up next to her where she was leaning against the railing.

"Hasn't left in three days." Cayenne replied. "I think Killer's about to go in there, bad mood or not, and drag him out just to make sure he doesn't have gangrene or anything."

Nearly three days ago, they had made the mistake of sailing into waters controlled by Big Mom. Almost immediately, they were attacked by members of her crew. And they grossly underestimated an Emperor's power.

-x-

"_Kid, we need to get out of here _now_!" Cayenne shouted over the canon fire, her ears were ringing._

"_Repel!" Kid snarled and set a mortar back at the ship firing at them._

_Cayenne ducked as wood sprayed overhead. Any more damage and the ship wouldn't be able to sail. "Come on Kid!" She howled in rage, angry that he wasn't ordering them to run and that she couldn't do anything against the enemy ship._

"_Kid, she's right!" She heard Killer say. "We can't beat them back, they're too strong!"_

_Kid swore loudly at them before addressing everyone else. "Fuck, we're leaving!" Many of them abandoned the cannons and their weapons and made for their places to make their getaway. "And hurry!" He roared._

_Thankfully, Big Mom's crew didn't give chase and they were allowed to retreat and lick their wounds._

"_I won't forget this." Cayenne heard Kid snarl as he watched the ship get farther and farther away._

-x-

Kid had gotten a pretty bad stomach wound and Cayenne's arm had been cut so deeply from stray glass that even the smallest of stitches wouldn't keep it from scarring.

"Yeah, Killer can do it without getting killed." Wire stated simply.

She didn't reply but absentmindedly scratched at her bandages, damn were they itchy. "Then go find Killer and suggest to him he needs to make sure that our Captain isn't dead." She sighed glumly. "And we need to make port soon. The ship needs work, now." The only thing keeping the mast upright were some metal pieces hammered on. Wire nodded and wandered off but stopped when the doors leading below deck flung open.

Kid stormed out and threw the New World Log Pose at a random crew member. "We make for the closest island," he barked. "So shut up and get in your positions!"

People scrambled to their positions, Cayenne was about to head for the ropes leading up into the sails when Kid beckoned her over. "Yes?" She asked cautiously. He looked more murderous than usual.

"Follow me." He growled. He motioned for Killer to follow him as well. "My quarters, _now_." Silently, Killer and Cayenne followed him. He was more angry than Cayenne originally thought as he stomped his way below deck.

Kid flung open the door to his quarters and thundered in. "Close the door!" He ordered.

Cayenne obliged and the second the door was closed, Kid whirled on the both of them. "I want you to come up with a strategy the next time we meet them," Kid said to Cayenne. "I want that ship _sunk_."

Alright, so he was beyond livid and murderous. Her mind desperately tried to formulate something that would sate him for the time being but that ship had been too fast and powerful. At the current strength they were, they were no match for them. They needed to get stronger and that was the only option Cayenne could think of. "It'll take time." She said carefully, one wrong move and she'd regret it—Kid looked ready to stab something.

"Time is not something you have." Kidd snarled.

She stiffened at those words. What did he mean? Cayenne glanced over at Killer for help but the first mate merely shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, our current level isn't enough to take them on again so soon. I can devise a strategy that'll help but it won't be much use if we don't have the power to carry it out." She continued.

"That's not good enough!" Kid came closer to her so he towered over her. For a fleeting second, she thought she was back on Hydrilla in the fire right before he kissed her.

"Kid!" Cayenne said firmly. "The ship needs repairs and I understand you're angry right now but if we go after them again, all of us will die." She looked at Killer again. "Killer, tell him!"

"She's right Captain." Killer finally said and Kid turned his attention to his first mate. "The mast needs repairs and we're working on finding the closest island to land on."

"We need to be rational about this." Cayenne reasoned. "Let's land and see what we can do." Her mouth formed a stiff smile. "And maybe this next island will be useful enough to take over."

That seemed to calm Kid down as he backed away from her. "Yeah, that could work." He murmured. "How close is the next island?" He asked Killer.

Cayenne let out a mental sigh of relief and relaxed while Killer spoke. "Nearly a day away. We're going slow right now but we'll make it."

"See that you do." Kid said curtly and waved them out.

Killer moved to leave first and Cayenne quickly followed him. "Is he often like that?" Cayenne asked Killer the moment they were out of the room.

"Sometimes."

"For our sakes, I hope we beat them the next time we meet." Cayenne mused aloud.

"Any ideas?"

"I've got some vague ideas but like I said, it'll take time. Only fools would try and take on the Emperors straight away without a plan." If Kid could increase the speed of his repel then it could be enough to severely damage a mast." Cayenne surmised.

"Better not let Kidd hear that." Killer warned.

Kidd's ego didn't let him receive criticism well, he had to come to his own conclusions.

"I know." She replied and walked away, heading for her quarters. She had plans to draw up.

-x-

"I've got a rough sketch of what we can do if we run into crews of an Emperor." Cayenne told Heat that evening at dinner. "It's not solid but it'll do."

Heat absentmindedly chewed on a piece of dried meat while he listened. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, for one, if Captain Kid can increase the speed of repelling something, he could do some serious damage to a mast or even just the ship. That's one option, another option is just increasing our firepower. Y'know, buying more mortars and the like." She explained.

"Anything for close combat?" He asked.

She shook her head. "We didn't get close enough for me to see what kind of fighters they were. I can make a basic strategy that may or may not work. But with the right weapons, no one would be able to get near us."

It was a start and Heat looked satisfied with her answer.

"_LAND HO!"_ Some above deck shouted.

_Finally!_ Cayenne dropped her food and raced up the stairs with everyone else. "How big is it?" She asked Wire, who was squinting at the land mass ahead of them. She held a hand over her eyes to keep them shaded.

"Looks fairly big and it's a spring island by the looks of it." The weather around them was warm but that didn't mean the island would be.

"I hope it is." Cayenne muttered. She preferred spring islands, they were easier to get around in.

Kid strode to the front of the deck and looked over the bow. "Let's land and make it quick!" He ordered.

-x-

They didn't make it over to the island quickly like Kid wanted but they eventually landed. Kidd and Killer were the first off and surveyed the island.

Cayenne helped lower the anchor and tethered the ship to the beach before she hopped over the side of the ship and onto the beach. "I wonder what island this is?" They were on the edge of a large forest and it was too dark for Cayenne to see anything.

It had to be a spring island because a slight breeze was coming from the west and ruffled Cayenne's hair. And the forest was too lush to suggest otherwise.

"What do we do Captain?" Wire asked from the ship.

Kid didn't say anything back but spoke lowly to Killer. Cayenne shrugged when Wire looked at her. She wasn't an authority on islands nor was she a fountain of knowledge.

The trees were pretty enough, she supposed. But other than that, they were going into the island blind. There was no father or son to give them a tour this time.

In the inky blackness of the forest, something moved. "What is that?" She asked softly so only Wire could hear her.

"What is what?"

She pointed and the moving shape that was coming closer. And getting bigger. "Captain!" Wire called.

Kid looked over at them and Wire pointed at the shape. "Incoming!"

Everyone was put on alert as the thing came closer and closer. And it wasn't long before it entered the light to reveal... a cat?

"A cat?" Cayenne echoed everyone else.

It was a black cat with glittering green eyes that made it look like it was hiding a secret. And it was just like a normal house cat that some people owned. Except for the fact that it was the size of a medium-sized dog.

The cat came to a stop right in front of their ship and everyone just stared at it—even Kid. It sat down and stared at them with its eery green eyes.

"Hmm, it's been too long since this cat has seen humans on this side of the island." _The cat_ _spoke_.

Cayenne's mouth dropped open and Wire coughed next to her to hide his own surprise.

Kid wasn't deterred. He leapt off the side of the ship and landed on the beach. "You. Cat."

The cat turned to him. "What an odd-looking human." It said languidly. "Can this cat help you?"

Cayenna could just imagine the look on Kid's face. And she could bet that he was fighting the urge to kill the cat—not that she would blame him. "What is this island?" Kid demanded.

"Just an island." The cat responded. "Full of cats like myself." It stood up and walked around Kid to look at the ship. "This cat believes that your ship is need of repair. As expected. Big Mom owns the waters not far from this island."

The cat cleaned its paw for a moment before addressing Kid again. "My name is Lin Maurus. And this cat can take you to get supplies if the humans would like." Maurus sat down and stared at Kid. "This cat awaits your reply."

Kid turned away from Maurus and walked back onto the ship. "Killer, Heat, Cayenne you're with me." He gestured to three of them. "The rest of you stay here and guard the ship."

Cayenne followed Heat and walked down to the beach, making sure to give Maurus a wide berth. She absentmindedly scratched at her arm again.

Warmth passed over Cayenne when Kid leaned down, his mouth brushing her ear. "Stay alert." He growled. Cayenne swallowed thickly and nodded.

The warmth left as Kid approached Maurus. "We're ready."

Maurus stood up and stretched. "Excellent. Please follow this cat." With that, Maurus led them into the forest where the darkness swallowed them up.

-x-

Cayenne made a startled noise when her vision suddenly went dark as they left the ship behind. Sunlight wasn't penetrating the canopy of leaves at all. She couldn't see anything.

"Ahh, this cat apologizes." Maurus spoke ahead of them. "Please hold onto each other and keep walking, you humans will be fine."

Cayenne groped blindly in the dark and grabbed the first piece of fabric she found. And by the heaviness of it, she guessed she grabbed Kid's coat. Something large like a mitt, landed on Cayenne's shoulder and she knew it was Killer.

"This cat's village is not far from here." Maurus's voice came from in front of them. "It will not be long."

"As long as you don't try anything funny." She heard Kid snarl quietly. Cayenne gripped his coat a little tighter.

_Please don't lose it in here._ She silently pleaded. At least she wasn't Luca at this moment. She would be freaking out as dark, unfamiliar places weren't her forte.

But the thing that worried Cayenne was the cat leading them. She didn't like cats very much.

And she had a _very_ good reason.

But there they were, in the darkest forest Cayenne had ever been in, being led by a cat whom they didn't know (or know how it could _talk_).

And she didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.

**Maurus is Latin for "Dark Skinned" (his black fur) and Lin is Chinese for "Jade." I hope the use of those names don't bother anyone. Names are not my strength.**

**Can anyone guess why Cayenne doesn't like cats? If you guess correctly, you get a cookie!**

**One Piece belongs to Oda and I hope he's feeling better as he was recently hospitalized. Cayenne belongs to me.**

**Reviews are most welcome! See ya in chapter eighteen!**


	18. C: The Isle of Cats

**Wow, an update that didn't take forever? I swear, I must work faster when I'm on break.**

**Thanks for all of the reviews guys! They make me very happy.**

**Enjoy!**

**As of 6/28/13 this chapter has been edited.**

**-x-**

It didn't take long for them to reach the end of the forest. Light actually shone at the exit. Cayenne quickly clenched her eyes closed against the light and behind her, she heard Heat grunt in discomfort as they emerged.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to allow herself to adjust and once they were, her eyes went wide and her hand let go of Kid's coat as she looked at the peculiar sight in front of her.

It was a village, a fairly large village to be exact. Littered around the village were wooden huts painted various colors—blue, purple, red, green, etc—but some of the colors were faded giving the village a bit of a mismatched look.

But there were cats here and lots of them. There were cats of all shapes and colors—there even was a purple and black striped one—and now she could see that Maurus was among the smaller of the cats. And there was even one the size of a small elephant.

"That's a lot of cats." Heat stated as Maurus led them through the village of cats.

Did any humans live here at all? Cayenne shadowed Kid closely, she didn't want to get too close to the cats. How did those huts get there if there weren't any humans? Cats didn't have opposable thumbs. They couldn't build huts!

Maurus led them through the village of cats. Some of them stood up to watch them progress through their village. Some even _followed_ them. "Hey, cat." Kid ground out. "What is this place?"

"This?" Maurus didn't turn around but kept walking. "This is this cat's village."

"What's up with the "this cat" thing?" Cayenne scowled. She was liking this less and less. She scratched her arm again. _Crap_.

Finally, the reached the center of the village where a large, white cat was lazing about. "Elder!" Maurus meowed. "This cat has found humans in need of help."

The elder cat lifted his head and yawned (Cayenne tried very hard not to stare at his sharp-looking fangs). "Humans?" He asked and stood up, shaking himself as he went.

He walked towards Kid and sniffed. "Pirates, I see. This is not the first time Big Mom has sent humans our way."

Something deep in the back of Cayenne's mind rankled with suspicion. _Sending humans their way..._ Something was off but she didn't know what. And the way Kid's back was stiff told her that he thought the same thing too.

"Unfortunately." Kid replied to the white cat.

"You need supplies, yes?" The cat continued, ignoring Kidd. He turned away to lay back down on his mat in front of his hut. "Areli!" He called.

Another cat, this one tan and nearly as tall as Kid when sitting, came up to them. "Yes, Elder?" Areli's voice was deep.

"Take them to the lumber yard. They should find supplies there."

"Of course, Elder." Areli rumbled and gracefully walked past them, brushing against Cayenne as he did so.

She couldn't help it. Her nose twitched. "Ah—ah—ACHOO!" She sneezed.

"Cayenne?" Killer questioned.

She sniffed and then sneezed again. "I'm allergic to cats." She admitted sheepishly and scratched her shoulder, she could already feel a rash beginning to develop.

Kid swore. "Why didn't you say something?" He glared at her.

"I didn't know there was going to be a _village of cats_!" She protested. And then sneezed again. "Let's just follow that damn cat." She grumbled. "It'll get better once we're out of here."

Areli had ignored their little talk and was already slipping onto another path leading away from the village. Kid strode after him, Heat and Killer following. Cayenne sneezed again and then left, wiping her nose on her sleeve and then wiped her sleeve on her pants.

She hated cats.

-x-

Areli was much faster than Maurus and didn't talk to them or anything while they hiked up a mountain. The mountain iteself was very surprising because no one saw a mountain when they landed. What kind of island was this?

Cayenne hung at the very back of the line, sneezing occasionally or scratching her arm or chest. And every time she sneezed, she sent a glare towards Areli.

But soon enough, they came to a clearing in the side of the mountain that was filled with cut lumber. Perfectly cut lumber of different lengths and so on.

"Take what you need." Areli rumbled and lied down and began to clean himself.

Kid moved first and the other three followed. "Question." Cayenne whispered to Killer as they moved through the lumber yard. "How can _cats_ cut lumber?"

"I don't know." Killer responded and lifted a beam to look at it.

"They can't." Kid joined them. He was scanning the area, scowling. "There's something up with this island."

"Then what should we do, Captain?"

Cayenne sneezed again. Kid paused and then continued. "We take back what we can, fix the ship, and haul ass."

Her eyebrows quirked up in surprise. "No attacking or anything?"

"No." Alarmingly, Kid looked like he didn't mind. "They said Big Mom sent pirates their way. That sounds like a mutual agreement."

It did. Cayenne hadn't noticed but now that she thought back on the Elder's words. He never said that people would come looking for help because of Big Mom but that she sent pirates their way. Very vague but the implication was there.

There was something between the cats and Big Mom. But what?

"Alright." Kid gestured for Heat to join them and once he did, Kid lowered his voice. "Heat, Cayenne. Go back to the ship and wait for us. We'll come back with the wood. Tell them to get ready to set sail for the third island on the Log Pose."

"Of course, Master Kid." Heat said.

Cayenne nodded and then sneezed. Goddamn allergies.

-x-

Ensign Evetts walked nervously down a hallway in Marineford. Tensions were abnormally high as Sengoku's retirement was coming closer and closer. It seemed Admiral Aokiji was set to become the next Fleet Admiral but Admiral Akainu was strongly opposed to it and he put himself forward as a candidate as well.

And the relations between the two Admirals became extremely tense. Some were saying that a fight might break out between the two soon enough. And that was a frightening thought.

He raised a fist and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

He entered the office and saluted the Vice Admiral who was turned away from him, looking out the window. "Ensign Evetts," the Vice Admiral spoke softly. "How is the situation between Admirals Aokiji and Akainu?"

Evetts's mouth dropped open. "W-well," he stuttered, "it's tense to say in the least. But, surely you know this? Vice Admiral Senka?"

Vice Admiral Senka turned around and regarded him coolly with her dark eyes. "I suppose I should but I find it exhausting to be out there." She gave him a chilling smile. "And why should I leave when I have puppets like you to do my errands?"

Evetts bit his lip, fear spiked through him at her tone. "Yes ma'am." He didn't know what else to say.

She waved at him to come closer and he did, handing her his report. "You told me to keep an eye on the Kid Pirates as they entered Big Mom's territory."

"So I did." Vice Admiral Senka said mildly. She flipped idly through the report. "They were attacked?"

"Yes." He nodded. "As far as we know, they're still alive."

She set the report down on her desk and strode over to the window again. "The closest island the Log Pose would led them to is the Isle of Cats, yes?"

"Yes. We've confirmed that it's a possibility that they've landed there."

"Of course, they're there!" She whirled on him. "There's a reason why Big Mom puts patrols out there so close to that island!" He backed up in fear. "All we know is that there is a certain agreement between the Pirate Emperor and the cats that live there." She seethed.

No one was able to get near it to investigate so they didn't know the extent of that agreement. But it was common fact that pirate crews who went to that island were never seen again.

A marine unit was sent there once. Nearly four years ago. They never came back and the final transmission from their Den Den Mushi led the higher-ups to believe that they were all died.

"I-I mean," Evetts spoke again, "that isn't it a good thing? If they disappear like the rest, I mean."

Senka exhaled in annoyance. "To others, maybe. But not for me."

Evetts opened his mouth to see if she would clarify but there was another knock at the door.

"Enter." Vice Admiral Senka said smoothly. The door opened to reveal the Photography Branch Captain. "Attachan!" She beamed at him.

Attach saluted her. "Vice Admiral. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, yes." Vice Admiral Senka murmured and sat down in her chair. "You were the one who took the bounty pictures of the pirates Eustass "Captain" Kid and "Massacre Man" Killer, yes?"

"Yes, it was me, ma'am." She waved at Attach to stop saluting.

"Good. I need you to find them again. Intel told me that Kidd picked up a new crew member in Sabaody. I need you take a picture of her."

_Her?_ Evetts didn't understand.

"Well, with all due respect Vice Admiral." Attach hesitated.

Vice Admiral Senka stood up angrily. "What do you mean Akainu has you doing something else?"

Evetts and Attach drew back, she was using her ability again. "Who cares if he needs to find some slip of a no-name girl who humiliated him? You haven't found her in two months!"

"Well." Attach chewed on his lip. He didn't look as unperturbed as Evetts felt.

"I don't care if it's important." She nearly snarled at him. But in an instant, she calmed down. "I see then." She sighed.

What was she talking about? Evetts wondered.

"Nothing you need to worry about." She said mildly, seemingly over the little tantrum she just had. She pulled her coat over her shoulders (following the fashion of just letting it sit on the shoulders). "Ensign Evetts, Captain Attach. Would you kindly follow me?"

There was no room for argument in her voice and they had no choice but to follow.

-x-

"Could you tell us the way to the beach?" Heat asked Areli smoothly while Cayenne sneezed and sniffled behind him.

Areli lifted his head. "Follow the path over there," he jerked his head to his right. "It'll take you to your ship."

Why didn't they see this path before? Cayenne was put on edge but Heat nodded politely. "Let's go." He murmured to her.

She nodded and followed him but she glanced back at Kidd and Killer who were talking about something while examining a piece of lumber. Right. Okay.

They reached the path on the edge of the forest. Unfortunately, it still looked as dark when they first came through. "What's wrong with this island?" Cayenne murmured.

"The vegetation should allow light to filter through the trees." Heat observed. Neither of them seemed willing to walk back into it without a guide.

"You don't happen to have any oil on you?" Cayenne asked hopefully. She had seen Heat breathe fire before, there had to be something behind that. Unless it was a devil fruit ability.

Heat slowly shook his head. "No, but I'll light our way." With that, they entered.

Immediately, Cayenne's sight was cut off and she was surrounded in darkness. "It's funny, my eyes don't adjust to the dark." She noticed that before, that despite how long they were in the woods, her eyes couldn't adjust. It was darker than dark in the odd forest.

And it seemed that the light cut off immediately behind them. They could be at the edge of the forest or right in the middle. Their sense of direction was warped now.

"I noticed too." Heat rumbled next to her. "Where are you?"

She tentatively moved her arms around, searching for him, and she found him. "Here." She felt his hand land on her shoulder and then it moved up to rest on her head.

"So I don't burn your hair." He explained and then fire erupted out of his mouth.

It illuminated the forest around them. Cayenne let out a shriek of surprise and instantly wished that Heat didn't have the idea to give them light. Right in front of her, mere inches away, was a skeleton.

It was mummified but she didn't get a chance to look at it in detail when Heat stopped breathing fire. "You saw that?" Heat asked.

"Yeah." Cayenne confirmed, ice settling in her stomach. She reach out a hand and her fingers came in contact with _it_. She felt the holes were the nose would be, her index finger accidentally went into the hole and she blanched.

"There is something _very_ wrong with this place." Cayenne said finally.

"I know." Heat sent out another burst and farther ahead of them was the path. And it was littered with skeletons. He walked forward, Cayenne following closely. As they moved down the path, they kicked the skeletons away while Heat took a break.

"Do you think the cats killed these people?" Cayenne asked as she kicked something away.

"It's a possibility." Heat admitted. "Cats can't build huts."

"Then maybe there _were_ humans here and then the cats came." That was her best theory and it sounded possible now, thanks to the skeletons.

"You think the cats took over?"

"It'd explain the huts."

Her foot came in contact with something hard and planted firmly in the ground and she went tumbling down. Except she didn't meet the ground, she kept going. "Heat!" She cried as she fell. She couldn't see anything, she was falling in the dark. She blindly stuck her arms around and felt dirt graze by her fingers. She tried to grab it but it came loose under her grip.

She distantly saw a fire burst above her and she realized that she was falling down a hole. "Cayenne!" She heard Heat shout distantly.

Her back slammed into the ground and she hit her head painfully and then she knew no more.

-x-

As Vice Admiral Senka led them higher and higher in Marineford, Evetts felt worse and worse. Fear gnawed through him when he realized where they were going. Why did he have to come along?

"Because I'll have an assignment for you after this." Senka said mildly as she continued on.

Evetts nearly swore. Sometimes he nearly forgot about her special ability. But he shouldn't. He should never forget what Senka was capable of. His senior officers warned him about that.

They stopped in front of a simple wood door but it felt imposing to Evetts. The Vice Admiral knocked solidly and then: "Enter." Someone said on the other side.

She opened the door and they filed in to see Admiral Akainu sitting at his desk. They all saluted. "Admiral Akainu." Senka said smoothly as she addressed him. "I have a request."

Akainu didn't even look at Evetts. Instead, he eyed Attach who shifted under his gaze. "What's so important that you need to pull Captain Attach from his duty?"

"I understand that you had Captain Attach doing a mission in finding the girl from the battle at Marineford." She started. "But I request that you release Captain Attach for a time to do some work for me."

He eyed her dangerously. "What kind of work?"

She took a few steps forward. "You remember the incident at Hydrilla a week ago?" He nodded. "We confirmed that it was Eustass "Captain" Kid even though the villagers refused to say."

"And?" Akainu said irritably.

"_And_ I traced Kid's patterns from the Grand Line. He's a fan of destruction, yes. Chaotic destruction, if you ask me. But _Hydrilla_, Hydrilla was organized. They waited until the island went under the sea to lay waste to them. It kept the villagers from calling G-1 for help. Do you think Kid was capable of that?"

"Get to the point, Vice Admiral."

"Thanks to some resources of mine, I found that Kidd acquired a new crew member in Sabaody. I think that this person was responsible for what happened on Hydrilla. I would like Captain Attach to go into the New World and get a photograph of this person."

Akainu stood up and Evetts stiffened. "For what? A bounty?"

"I have more reason to give this person a bounty than you do for the girl who attacked you."

Akainu slammed a fist down on the desk, Senka didn't even flinch. "Do you know what that girl can be _capable of_?" He shouted at her.

"Yes. The rare haki that's exactly like Cougar's. I read the report." She replied calmly. "But we don't know where she is and the next place her captain will be heading to will be Fishman Island. And for good reasons, we can't go there. She's out of your reach at the moment, Admiral."

Akainu regarded her disdainfully but he turned to Captain Attach. "You have him for three weeks."

Senka saluted. "Thank you very much, sir."

"Senka." Akainu rumbled. "Who is this person that you want to find?"

She paused. "I believe that a remnant from an older generation is walking around." With those words, she turned around and gestured for Evetts and Attach to leave.

The door closed behind them. Senka turned to Attach. "Attachan, go to the New World to the G-5 base. Wait for my word, I'll send you to the island I want you on shortly. You're looking for the Kid Pirates. There will be a woman with them. She's who I want."

Attach saluted and walked off.

"Now, Ensign Evetts." Senka said cheerfully. "Walk with me." He had to hurry to keep up with her quick stride. "I need you to do an errand for me."

"Ma'am?"

"I need you to go down into archives and find any information you can on these two people." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. She handed it to him and he took it and nearly choked on his air when he saw the names.

"These _two_? You think she's connected to these two?"

"Just a hunch, just a hunch." Senka strode away, probably heading back to her office. "I'll need something this big if I'm to pass Fujitora for that damn promotion. And those three people are my ticket."

Evetts looked back at the names, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing that you're privy to." Evetts pocketed the slip. "Oh, and Ensign Evetts?" He looked up at her. She was staring at him, her eyes cold and hard. "If you breathe a _word_ of this to _anyone, _I'll make sure your marine career is very short and extremely painful. Am I clear?"

He swallowed, his mouth had gone dry. "Yes ma'am."

"Good."

-x-

**And that concludes chapter eighteen. Chapter nineteen's maybe about one-third done so it might be out sometime next week. And I think Cayenne's arc is going to go for another chapter after that, so this one's a four-chapter arc. Don't you Cayenne fans feel happy?**

**If you'll notice that Senka was the person Evetts talked to in chapter thirteen. I mistakenly called her a Rear Admiral when I meant that she was a Vice Admiral. I'll fix that in the coming week.**

**Also, I'm planning on going over my previous chapters and do some editing. Nothing too big, I promise. There'll be some grammar/spelling changes and some personality tweaking on Luca's part (she needs it). I started this fic when I was seventeen and there's a lot I should change to reflect how far I've come in terrms of writing. You'll see those changes some time next week if I'm able.**

**So thanks to all who have stuck with this fic for this long! Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. They mean so much to me!**

**Be sure to drop a review, favorite, or follow and I'll see ya in chapter nineteen!**


	19. C: Lurking Danger

**I guess this one took longer than I thought it would. I guess I didn't know where I wanted to take it until I finally figured it out.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. I love you guys!**

**Also, I edited the first eighteen chapters (and that took longer than I thought). So if you wanna, go ahead and read 'em again!**

**Enjoy!**

**-x-**

Cayenne awoke with a startled gasp and then she began to cough violently. Pain wracked through her, especially in her back and her head. But she was alive.

"Uuugh," she groaned as she rolled over onto her side. Where the hell did that hole come from? She was walking with Heat in the horribly dark forest and then she was falling. And where was Heat?

And why did it seem a little lighter down here? Sure enough, Cayenne could faintly make out the wall next to her. She craned her neck to look up but she saw only blackness. "Heat!" She shouted.

Nothing.

Either she was too far away for him to hear her or he went back to the ship. Gingerly, she got to her feet and more details came into focus. She was at the bottom of a hole, a dirt hole by the looks of it. But a faint light was farther ahead of her, slightly illuminating the tunnel.

Cayenne put a hand on the dirt wall and made her way forward. She could only hope that it would lead her to the beach so she could get back to the ship.

The dirt tunnel slowly turned into one made of stone and it slowly got lighter and lighter until she came to the exit.

Her hand fell off the wall and she stared at the sight before her. "What in the hell?"

-x-

Kid had never been a cautious man. He was more of a run into a situation armed and ready for a fight type of man. But ever since that damned cat mentioned Big Mom he had been on edge. At this point, he refused to believe that it was a coincidence that the cats knew about Big Mom.

Killer and Cayenne shared this belief and he knew it was time for them to go. He sent Cayenne and Heat back to the ship while he and Killer stayed in the lumber yard.

"Follow my lead." Kid muttered to his first mate when he knelt down to look at a piece of wood. Already, they had a sizable pile of wood. Thankfully, they didn't need that much.

"Of course." Killer replied and pulled the wood towards their pile.

"Are you almost finished?" Areli sat up and sent a level look at Kid.

"Yeah." Kid grunted, eying Areli back levelly. "Hey, cat."

"Yes?" Areli looked disgruntled and turned his attention back to Kid.

"What's up with that forest." He nodded in the forest's direction. "Will my crew be able to get back to the beach?"

"Perhaps." Areli said. "We often forget that humans can't see in the dark."

"Yes we can." Kid growled. "But that forest is so goddamn dark."

Areli didn't answer immediately. "If they stay on the path, they'll be fine." He stood and then walked down the path that lead back to the cat village. "Come."

Kid narrowed his eyes at the retreating cat. "Get the lumber." He ordered Killer who obediently picked up as much as he could carry and Kidd took the rest.

They didn't speak another word as they followed Areli down the path. But Kid kept his eyes trained on the cat in front of him. There was something suspicious going on.

"Master Kid!" Someone shouted in the distance. It sounded urgent.

Christ no. That was Heat. "Heat!" Kid called. He dropped his lumber and lunged forward, searching for Heat.

Heat stumbled out of the forest, breathing hard and looking harried. "Master Kid!" He called in relief.

"Heat." Kid greeted and ignored the relief passing through him. "What's wrong? Where's Cayenne?" He couldn't help but notice that his only female subordinate wasn't with Heat.

"She fell down a hole." Heat admitted. "I couldn't find her. It was too dark for me to see."

Kid didn't want to acknowledge it but worry settled in his gut. "Cat!" He barked and turned to where the cat was supposed to be but he was gone. "Fuck."

Killer let go of his lumber and his blades were out. "Stay alert." Kid ordered. They went back to back, searching everywhere for the cat.

Then he heard it. There was a low growling to his right and he whipped his head in that direction to see a tan blur racing toward him. Kid moved out of the way, pulling his flintlock out of its holster. Killer instead jumped over him, blades spinning, and sliced the cat deeply on the flank. Kid took aim and fired at him, getting him in the leg.

Areli howled and bared his teeth at Kid. Heat spat fire at Areli, singing his fur, and the Killer went again for a cut along another leg.

"Take him alive!" Kid commanded. He pulled out his knife.

Killer responded by kicking the cat squarely in the head. Areli buckled and fell to the ground, blood pooling around him.

Still keeping a grip on his knife, Kid strode over to the cat on the ground. He put his boot on the bullet wound in his leg and applied pressure. Areli made a noise that a mix between a yelp and a growl. "Now, I'm going to be very clear. I'm going to ask you questions and you're going to answer me. If you don't, I will make the rest of your life very short and miserable."

Areli growled weakly at him. Kid snarled right back and put more pressure of the wound. "_Understand_?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Now, where is she?" Kid said first. Cayenne had to come first.

"I don't know." Areli ground out.

"Where. Is she?" Kid repeated, pressing harder.

Areli tried to swipe at Kid with an outstretched claw but Killer slashed him again with a blade. "I don't know where she is." The cat gave in. "The holes are over a tunnel system that could come out anywhere."

He didn't like that answer but he didn't press it. It would work, _for now_. "Alright, next question." Kid leered down. "What's your connection with Big Mom?"

-x-

It was a city. A ruined city, to be precise. Cayenne surveyed it in wonder. There was no way that this was made by cats. Humans had to have been living here a long time ago. She walked towards the ruins and entered it.

There were some old designs on the wall that faded into the stone. Gently, she rapped a knuckle on the wall was relieved to find that although the ruins were old, they were still solid.

She moved further in. Inside the ruins, she found old remnants of a life abandoned long ago. Cracked pots, bowls, and various pottery were scattered on the ground. Plant life was forced its way through the broken floor and curled up the walls. It was strangely beautiful, Cayenne thought as she traced an etching on the wall.

She entered another room, this one was bigger and completely empty. But there were strange letters carved into the walls. _I wonder what it says._ Cayenne pondered as she walked closer to the wall. The letters where in a language she had never seen before.

"Remnants of a city from ages past." Someone spoke behind her.

Cayenne whirled around, pulling her staff out, to see Maurus sitting there. "You!"

"This cat." Maurus said calmly. He didn't move.

Cayenne's nose tingled. "Just stay there." She ordered.

"Of course. This cat won't go any farther." Maurus promised.

Trying to ignore the tingling in her nose, she turned back to the words on the wall. "What are these?" She tried asking.

"The writing of a kingdom, from long ago." Maurus stood up and walked over to another wall. He lifted a black paw and rested it on the wall. "It was wiped from history by the Twenty Kingdoms except for some pieces scattered throughout the world."

That story sounded so familiar... Did Zia tell her that story when she was little?

-x-

"_Zia!" A six year old Cayenne pouted as she climbed into her bed. "I want a bedtime story!"_

"_Hold your horses, you little monkey!" Zia exclaimed from the doorway. "I chase you around all day and you expect me to tell you a bedtime story? I'm an old woman, you know."_

_Eagerly, little Cayenne nodded her head and held her stuffed monkey closer. Zia exhaled heavily. "Your parents were lucky that I like them." The wizened woman walked over and joined Cayenne on the bed. "What do you want to hear, little monkey?"_

_Cayenne shrugged her shoulders. "Something you haven't told me before!"_

"_Oh I can't do that." Zia laughed. "If you knew what I know..." She trailed off and looked at the wall uncertainly._

_Cayenne lifted her stuffed monkey and used its paw to poke Zia's cheek. "Zia?"_

"_Nothing, little monkey." Zia wrapped an arm around Cayenne's shoulders. "Okay, I have a story for you. But you have to promise me something."_

_"What?" Cayenne asked innocently._

"_That what I'm going to tell you tonight will never be repeated until you are much, _much_ older to understand the story."_

_Cayenne didn't understand but she wanted to hear the story. "Okay, I promise."_

"_Good girl." Zia murmured. "Now where to begin?"_

"_Like all stories, at the beginning!"_

"_A long, long time ago there was a kingdom. This kingdom was so powerful, its reach spread into all four blues. It was believed that they were so advanced beyond anyone's dream that they had gone to the moon."_

"_The moon?" Cayenne interrupted. "That's impossible!"_

"_Not for them." Zia continued. "But this kingdom had enemies. They found themselves in war against twenty other kingdoms. After a long and arduous war—"_

"_What does arduous mean?"_

"_It means extremely hard—now shut up. After a long and hard war, the ancient kingdom was losing and the Twenty Kingdoms were pressing in. Before their enemies invaded, they crafted their legacy onto various stones. These stones were indestructible, no one would be able to get rid of their kingdom's mark. But these stones were scattered around the world, to various places their kingdom once had a hold of. And each one contains a little piece of the kingdom and if each one was read then the truth about the world and our very history would come out." _

"_But the twenty kings of the twenty kingdoms didn't want that. Oh no, they scattered what stones they could—hiding them in the deep bowels of the earth. But even some were lost to them—down in the depths of the ocean, to their allies in a city of gold, and even to the very ends of the earth."_

"_Eventually, the ancient kingdom was defeated and the twenty kingdoms united to create what we know today as the World Government. The descendents of those kings live in Mariejois and they are the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons. They uphold the order in this world and keep the peace."_

"_But if this kingdom was really powerful, how were they defeated?"_

"_That is a very good question, Cayenne. But I'm afraid I can't answer it. Not yet." Zia slid off the bed and tucked Cayenne in. "Now go to bed."_

_Cayenne snuggled into her pillows but she thought of another question. "Zia?" Her voice was slightly muffled as the only thing visible was her thick, black hair._

"_What?"_

"_What was the kingdom called?"_

_Zia chuckled. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you that. Not until you're old enough to know what it means."_

-x-

Was Maurus talking about the Ancient Kingdom? How much did Zia know about it? Now she wished she had asked before Zia died. "Do you know the name of this kingdom?"

Maurus slowly shook his head. "This cat does not. It was too long ago for anyone to remember. It had been wiped from history."

Did anyone know anything about the past? Why did the World Government make those hundred years of history blank? Cayenne sneezed again.

"This cat sends his apologies." Maurus said brightly.

"I'm sure you're really sorry." She muttered darkly.

"Okay, here's another question." She started again but had to pause again to sneeze. "How did all of this get here. Cats don't have opposable thumbs. _You can't build things._"

Maurus seemed to smile. "You're right. We didn't. The humans who lived here before did."

-x-

Kid rarely found himself worried but now he could feel it growing in his gut. The information that cat told him unsettled him. Heat and Kidd also descended into a silence too after they finished talking to the cat.

-x-

"_What's your connection with Big Mom?" Kidd asked._

_Areli bared his teeth again. Kidd, in turn, lifted his foot and stomped down on the wound. The cat yowled. "Shut up!" Kidd snarled and kicked the cat in the head. "What is your connection with Big Mom?" He asked again._

"_We have an agreement with her." Areli admitted. "Anyone who comes close to her territory by here, they won't sink them. Instead, they'll chase them away. We're the closest island, they'll have no choice but to dock here."_

"_Why?"_

_The cat didn't answer right away. But he began to chuckle and then it soon turned into hysterical laughing. "You just don't get it!" He howled. "You humans are our food! They send you here and we kill and eat you!"_

_Kidd's mouth dropped open before he could catch himself._

"_YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LINK ON OUR FOOD CHAIN!"_

"_Killer." Kidd said._

_Killer obeyed and with a quick flick of his wrist, he sliced through Areli's skull. Blood spurt from him. He let out a moan of pain and then he was silent. The cat was dead._

"_Fuck." Was the next thing out of Kidd's mouth. "Fuck. Did he just say that they eat us?"_

_"It seems like it, Captain." Killer responded._

-x-

"Alright." Kidd turned to Killer and Heat. "This is what we're going to do. Heat, I want you to find a way back to the ship. Tell them what's going on. Any cats you see is kill on sight." Heat nodded his affirmation. "Killer, you and I are going to find Cayenne."

"Yes Captain."

Heat headed back into forest, aiming to get back to the ship. Killer and Kidd walked down the path that led back to the village. They would get as close as they could before going around it to other parts of the island. Behind them they left the body of Areli, his blood soaking into the dirt.

-x-

"So there _were_ humans here before." Cayenne said.

"Yes." Maurus replied. "A long time ago. Just before this cat's time. In fact, the only cat who remembers is the Elder himself."

How long ago was that? Cats, on average, lived roughly fifteen years. Sometimes twenty. But there was no way that those skeletons in the forest were twenty years old. None of them were in the decomposing stage, they were all just skeletons.

"He does." Someone else arrived. It was the white, elder cat from before.

He seemed to be bigger than the first time she saw him. He filled the decrepit doorway. "Elder Arieh!" Maurus cried. "Why are you here?"

"Areli has been killed." Arieh said calmly. His big eyes locked on Cayenne's form. "Her human companions did it."

_Kidd._ What was he doing? Cayenne sneezed again. "I can't explain my captain's actions." She said.

"Areli..." Maurus said quietly. "Are you sure?"

"Sol saw the body herself." Arieh replied. He took one step further into the room. "Big Mom has sent us many, many pirates here. Of course, nearly all of them are strong but this is the very first time when a human has managed to kill one of my tribe."

She knew that Areli looked untrustworthy before. As if he was waiting to pounce on any of them. "What is going on here. Why is Big Mom sending people here?" She tried to ask as calmly as she could but her nose was twitching again.

"I respect Big Mom." Arieh replied. "She shares... some of the same _interests_ as we do."

"Interests?" She asked.

"Those interests are what led us to making an agreement."

"Elder." Maurus tried to intervene.

"It's been a long time since I've participated though." Arieh ignored him.

"Participated in what?" Cayenne tried again. Mentally, she tried to review what she heard about Big Mom on Sabaody. She was a Pirate Emperor (the only woman) and her real name was Charlotte Linlin. And she had a huge appetite. She gave Fishman Island her protection in exchange for ten tons of candy every month.

Arieh's mouth opened so she could get a clear view of his sharp teeth. "Hunting." He said.

_Uh-oh._ Cayenne only had a split second. She dove to the ground just as a large, white body leapt at the space where she had been. She scuttled backwards until her back hit another wall. Arieh turned to her, snarling. "_Humans_." He spat. "The only thing you're good for is to become my next meal." He lunged at her again.

Cayenne shot to the right and the cat flew into the wall. "Elder!" Maurus shouted.

But Cayenne was already running out of the room. Where should she go? She couldn't go back to the tunnel, there was no way out from there. She took a sudden left and found herself in another room with a small alcove. Shit. A dead end.

"I CAN SMELL YOU!" She heard Arieh roar. He wasn't far off.

"Psst. Human." Maurus's green eyes peered out from a hole in the wall. "In here."

Nevermind that she was allergic, she climbed in after Maurus. "Follow me." He continued and she crawled after him. "Elder is too big to fit through this tunnel. We have a chance of losing him for ten minutes at most."

"Why are you helping me?" Cayenne asked and then sneezed.

"Reasons of this cat's own."

There was a moment of silence before Maurus spoke again. "Because this cat can tell you what happened with the humans."

-x-

"Repel!" A metal rod flew away from Kidd and landed in the side of a brown cat that was running for Killer.

They had managed to go around the village but soon after, they found that they were being followed. And moments after, several cats were attacking them. But they were making big mistakes if they though they could take down two supernovas.

Kidd pulled his knife out and expertly threw it right into the forehead of a cat the size of a lifeboat. "Come on!" He roared. He was so pissed. Cats thought they could kill him and his crew, and Cayenne was missing. And there was that fact that fucking _Big Mom_ was behind all this. He knew the she and Kaido were crazy but this was _insane_. Even by his standards.

Fuck, if he didn't find Cayenne in twenty minutes then he was going to raze the goddamn island down to the ground.

-x-

**Oh I love lore. I'm taking some liberties with the Blank Century but it was a hundred years. I'm sure I can smudge some stuff.**

**We wrap up Cayenne's arc next chapter! That's going to be fun! And I'm sorry for you cat lovers. I really have no excuse. Except the cat's are crazy and want to eat the humans. And Kidd's been itching for a fight.**

**Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated! See ya next chapter!**


	20. C: Ages Past

**Holy crap. Am I really on the twentieth chapter!? This story officially has 200 reviews, 229 favorites, 257 follows, and 50,000+ hits. Thank you all **_**so**_** much for supporting me all this time! I don't think I would have gotten this far without you all!**

**Enjoy!**

**-x-**

As Maurus led Cayenne farther and farther into the earthy tunnel, they would occasionally hear Arieh shout something and the tunnel would shake, raining dirt on them.

"That's just him ramming into the walls." Maurus said to her after a particularly violent tremor. "This cat thinks he can hear you sneeze."

"It's not my fault I'm allergic." Cayenne grumbled and then sneezed again. She also had an itch on the back of her right calf that was driving her crazy.

The tunnel started sloping up and Cayenne had to dig her feet into the ground to keep herself from slipping. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Up."

That was obvious.

The tunnel shook again and more dirt fell onto Cayenne's head. She coughed and then sneezed again. "Could you maybe keep quiet, human?"

"I'm trying." Cayenne said through gritted teeth as she fought the urge to sneeze again. "But you're too close."

"No matter. We are almost there." Maurus moved faster, prompting Cayenne to hurry.

"Does this destination have to do with what you said earlier?" She asked. "About knowing what happened to the humans before. Do you mean the Ancient Kingdom or the humans who were here before you cats?"

"Yes."

"That's really helpful." Cayenne sneezed again and cursed.

"Hurry. Because that Areli is dead, the Elder has surely commanded the rest of the tribe to hunt down your comrades. It won't be long until they are all dead."

Cayenne had to stop and snort. Then it turned into laughing. "Something wrong?" Maurus turned around to stare at her with big eyes.

Suddenly, she felt like Kid. And she smiled at him, almost wickedly. "If you think Kid's going to lose against a bunch of cats then you have another thing coming."

"A fierce-looking human does not stand a chance against the entire force of the tribe." Maurus said stoutly.

"I watched him burn an island full of innocent people. You don't know what Kid's capable of." _And I helped him do it._ She silently added.

"This cat doubts it." Maurus continued on.

They climbed up in silence for another five minutes. Cayenne wondered how Kid was doing. She knew he could more than hold his own in a fight but she just couldn't help it. There were a lot of cats in that village and nearly all of them were bigger than a small pony.

"We're here. Brace yourself human." Cayenne shut her eyes as she emerged from the tunnel. She blinked several times to adjust to the light (and sneezed, twice.) But when her eyes adjusted and she stopped sneezing, she realized where they were.

"How?" She whispered to Maurus. "How did this get here?"

-x-

Kid let out a guttural snarl as he sent another cat to the ground, bleeding from its gut. A little farther away, Killer was slicing into cat after cat. The last cat standing that went after Kid was circling him, looking for an opening.

"C'mon." Kid muttered as he watched the cat. "Try it."

The cat lunged at him. Kid deftly dodged and planted his dagger in the cat's neck. It yowled loudly in pain and Kid twisted the dagger, making the cat drop to the ground. He yanked it from the cat's neck and blood spurted out and onto his boots.

Kid turned to another cat, waiting for it to pounce but instead it turned and ran into the forest. "Running away? Coward." He spat on cat's corpse at his feet.

"Captain!" Killer called and walked toward him, blood dripped freely from his blades. "The rest of the cats are running. Do we go after them?"

Kid eyed the forest where the other cat disappeared critically. "No." He said finally. "We find Cayenne first. That girl's giving me more trouble than my crew combined." He muttered disdainfully. First she made him chase her all over the archipelago _twice_ and then she pulls another disappearing act.

She was definitely more trouble than she was worth.

-x-

They were standing at the front of a graveyard. A graveyard that was actually cut into the mountain; a small plateau that housed nearly a hundred worn down gravestones. "This is where the humans of old were buried." Maurus said simply.

Cayenne walked forward and knelt down to examine the closest one. The name was worn off but a faded date told her the grave was nearly eight hundred years old. "Where did these people come from?"

"As far as this cat knows, this graveyard was for the kings and nobles of the old civilization that was here."

"Wouldn't it be grander, then?" She asked. All of the stones were modest and worn down.

"Perhaps it was grander and then pillaged." Maurus walked past her and Cayenne sneezed. He nodded his head towards the back. "Like that one."

Compared to the small headstones around her, the one at the very back was bigger and vines were wrapped around it. She walked toward it and stopped when she realized that the words on this one were the same as the ones on the wall back in the ruins.

"The ruins cover nearly one half of the island." Maurus explained. "The forest took back most of it except for what you saw and this place. The village came after as a gift because the tribe would never accept the city."

"What happened to the city?"

"The war. This place was an arm of a large kingdom years past. When the enemies started closing in, they used a different type of warfare on this place. Since then, this place has been uninhabitable by humans."

She knew little about warfare. The paper only briefly talked about wars in different parts of the world and Zia kept quiet about that sort of thing. But she could make guesses. "This warfare, what kind was it?" But she felt like she already knew.

"The enemy released man-eating cats on the island." Cayenne turned to look at Maurus whose green eyes stared at her solemnly. "Within three days, every human was dead."

-x-

Surprisingly, it took Heat little time to make his way back through the forest and to the ship. "Heat!" Someone shouted from the deck.

Heat quickly walked up the ramp and onto the deck. "Where's Wire?" He demanded.

"Here." Wire rumbled and made his way to the front of the thickening crowd of men.

"Start preparing the ship. We leave as soon as Master Kid arrives." Heat ordered.

"But we don't have supplies to repair the ship." Wire protested.

"I know." Heat replied. "But there's trouble on the island and we need to leave as soon as we're able."

The men spurred into action, preparing the sails and pulling the ramp up. "What is going on?" Wire asked under his breath.

"Cats." Heat whispered back. "There're cats here that want to kill us."

"Heat, Wire!" Someone called and pointed at the forest. "Look!"

They turned and saw hundreds of glowing, yellow eyes coming closer. Within seconds, more cats were coming out of the forest. Their bodies were tense and poised for attack.

"Prepare for battle!" Heat shouted. "We're under attack!"

-x-

"So you're saying that these cats are from the Blank Century? That the World Government released them on this island?"

"The Twenty Kings did." Maurus reminded her. "The World Government didn't exist yet."

"But that still means the World Government just left them here." She shot back. How many skeletons were still in the World Government's closet? How far did they go to destroy one hundred years of history?

Deep in her mind, she realized that Zia probably knew it all. Why didn't Cayenne ask her? All the answers were at her fingertips growing up.

_Who says that Zia would have told you._ A little voice reminded her. _She knew the price of knowing information that was meant to be forgotten._

"It's a curious thing to see how humans will act in war." Someone else joined them.

It was Arieh. He had found them.

"I remember my orders very well." Arieh sat down. "Kill all humans you find. Spare no one. I can still remember the screams of the young." A deep rumble came from his throat. He was chuckling.

"Orders?" Cayenne pressed herself into the tombstone behind her. "The Blank Century was eight hundred years ago."

"Eight hundred years is nothing to me. I have watched many of my tribe be born and then die. But I, alone, have lived."

No. _No way._ Arieh was an original cat from the war? "That's impossible." Cayenne blurted.

"Oh, very possible. I know exactly why your World Government doesn't want any history from the war known. It would change everything about your insignificant human lives. But they tried to kill me or at least buy my silence. But every envoy that came would be killed and eaten. We can't resist a fresh meal when it's offered to us so willingly."

Arieh stood and stretched. "And then Big Mom came along. We couldn't do a thing against her but I saw the look in her eyes. I saw that hunger. I never thought I would see the day where I'd find respect for a _human_. The deal was simple. She'd drive off anyone that would sail in the waters close to her and damage their ship enough so they'd have to land on the closest island. We would be welcoming and then the hunt would begin." He lowered himself closer to the ground, muscles tensing. "And now the hunt would begin."

Cayenne only had seconds. She threw herself to the left before Arieh crashed into the spot she was just standing in.

"Running won't get you anywhere." Arieh snarled as he tensed to pounce again. "There's nowhere to run anymore, human."

She scrambled backwards, barely managing to avoid the cats once more. Her nose tingled and she sneezed.

That was all Arieh needed. He pounced again and his outstretched claw grazed her side. Cayenne howled in pain but managed to dive behind a tombstone.

"Go on, run." Arieh sneered. "That will make this all the more enjoyable." 

Why did she try and look for her staff earlier? Cayenne scowled to herself when she made a run for another tombstone. But she tripped over a root and fell to the ground. _Get up, get up._ She pleaded to herself.

A shadow loomed over her. She looked up to see Arieh standing over her. Desperately, she searched the ground for something—_anything—_to defend herself with.

"That's it?" The large cat mocked. "I've seen human men defend themselves better than you. But I suppose it's true, the females are the weaker species."

Red hot anger flared through Cayenne at the insult. Her fingers coiled around a broken tree branch. But before she could swing it at him, Arieh opened his mouth wide. Then he was on top of her, pinning her body down.

While her left hand was holding the tree branch, her right immediately went up to try and push him away. But Arieh was an eight hundred pound cat and she was horribly out matched. She could feel his hot breath blowing on her face as he snapped his jaws at her.

And on top of it all, she felt an itchy rash blooming on her chest and spreading to her shoulders. Then her nose began to tingle. _Not now!_ She shouted in her mind, damning her allergies. Then she swung the tree branch at Arieh's face with all of her might. He bit down on it and snapped it in half, throwing his half away from them.

All Cayenne was left with was a shorter tree branch _that had a sharper end_. An idea hit her and she grasped the branch as tightly as she could with both hands. Arieh opened his mouth again and descended on her.

At the same time, Cayenne jabbed upwards with the branch, aiming from the roof of his mouth. She hit it. The branch went through the roof of his mouth and out of his nose. Arieh roared in pain, bucking his head but Cayenne held on tightly.

Arieh desperately shook his head, trying to shake Cayenne off or to dislodge the branch stuck through his nose.

Pain shot through Cayenne's left arm and she let a high-pitched scream loose. Arieh had tried to shut his mouth as best as he could and his canine had sunk deep into the flesh of her left arm. Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, her chest was red from the her allergies, and her nose was swollen from sneezing so much. And now her arm was in so much pain that she could barely think.

Her grip on the branch went slack and she let go. She rolled away from the large, wounded cat, being careful to cradle her injured arm to her chest. Arieh didn't seem to notice her now, he was still trying to deal with the stick.

Cayenne scuttled away, looking for something—anything—to use as another weapon. Her back hit a sold wall—the side of the mountain. _Oh no._

Arieh's furious eyes landed on her. With a roar of anger mixed with pain, he charged at for one final time. Cayenne watched him come closer, frozen in fear and pain. What should she do, what should she do?

Time seemed to slow down as the large cat came closer and closer. And then an idea hit her. She held her ground, waiting for him to get closer. When she could make out flecks of blood and drool flying out of his mouth, she made her move. She rolled to the side, accidentally putting pressure on her injured arm and cried out in pain.

Arieh didn't have time to react. He crashed into the mountain side at full speed and force. She heard an awful _cracking_ noise. The branch must of broken. Cayenne gingerly lifted herself so she was sitting instead of being sprawled out on the ground.

The cracking sound she heard wasn't the branch, no that was still intact, it was Arieh's _skull_. He lay there, on the ground, writhing in pain and moaning. His hard head could do nothing to protect against the stone.

Blood was leaking out of his ears, nose, and eyes now. He definitely shattered his skull on impact. His eyes met hers and his lips pulled back in a snarl as if trying to exact vengeance on her. But he slackened and soon his limbs stopped moving and his chest stilled.

He was dead.

She had done it. She had managed to kill him.

Cayenne let out a shaky breath and slowly got to her feet, making sure not to bump her arm into anything. Now that she had a moment, she tried to examine her arm and see what the damage was. Unfortunately, there was too much blood for her to get a good look but it didn't seem like he hit anything major, just pierced flesh.

"Cayenne." Someone said behind her.

Cayenne turned and to her relief, saw Kid emerging from the thicket. "Kid." She breathed. "You're okay."

"Of course." He said and strode towards her. He stopped when he caught sight of Arieh's body behind her. "You did that?" Cayenne nodded wearily. "Good job." He said, seemingly impressed.

"It wasn't easy." Cayenne muttered under her breath, thinking of all her near misses. "How did you find me?" She asked.

"Heard screaming." Kid replied. "And then that black cat from earlier showed up, disappeared shortly before we found you."

"Oh." She didn't realize that Maurus had disappeared. She was too busy trying not to die. "Is Heat alright?" She asked.

"He's fine." Kid said curtly. "You're hurt." He nodded at her arm and then down at her side.

"He was a big cat." Cayenne didn't feel like elaborating. But a sharp ping of irritation and shame went through her when she noticed that Kid was uninjured.

_I guess... I still have a long way to go._ She was nowhere near Kid's level yet. A large, warm hand rest on her shoulder, steadying her. Cayenne looked back up at Kid to see his other hand reaching towards her. "Kid?" She started—

_Riiiiiip._

In a single movement he tore part of her shirt off, exposing most of her stomach. "Hey!" She yelped in shock.

Kid ignored her outburst and began to tear the piece of shirt into two strips. "Give me your arm." He commanded.

Cayenne complied and held her wounded arm out to him. As gently as Kid could possibly be, he gripped her arm and used one of the pieces of cloth to wipe away the excess blood. He tossed that one away and used the remaining piece to wrap around the sizable hole in her arm. Finally, he tied it tight and let go of her arm.

"That'll hold for a while." He said finally. "You'll have to wait until we get back to the ship to get your side looked at."

"Thanks." She said quietly.

His expression darkened and he towered over her. "I'm not doing it out of charity or some shit like that. You're a part of my crew and I do not like to have my crew die from their own stupidity."

It wasn't her fault she fell down a hole and got separated! Cayenne opened her mouth to argue but Kid cut her off. "I don't give a shit about whatever excuse you have. You've caused me nothing but trouble since I got my hands on you in the Grand Line. If you continue to cause me grievance, I'm going to leave your ass on whatever island we're on. Understand?"

She fumbled for words, at a loss. "Yes, Captain."

"Good." He promptly turned and strode away.

Cayenne followed after him, feeling slightly disheartened and shamed. It stung her that for a split second, she allowed herself to think that Kid actually cared. But he didn't, she only caused him more irritation.

Before they reached the edge of the woods, Killer stepped out. "We're weren't followed."

Kid didn't say anything, he just nodded at Killer and continued on. Killer's head looked in Cayenne's direction but he said nothing. Cayenne didn't say anything either, just followed the two men back to the ship.

-x-

The second Cayenne disappeared into the woods, a pair of green eyes shone from the depths of the forest. Maurus Lin stepped out and walked towards the body of Arieh. "So the mighty cat has finally fallen?" He chuckled at the sight. "This cat is very relieved as this cat has been waiting for so long to see your downfall."

-x-

It didn't take them very long to go down the mountain and find their way back to the ship (they even came across the lumber that Killer dropped.) On the other side, though, another surprising sight greeted them.

More cats were strewn across the beach, staining the sand and the water red. They must have tried attacking the ship but met their demise at the hands of the rest of the crew. "Master Kid!" Someone cried from the deck. It was Heat.

He jumped over the side and landed in the bloody water. "You're alright." He said to Cayenne.

She gestured to her side. "Kind of."

Heat nodded. "We can get that looked at."

"They tried attacking you?" Kid nudged a dead cat with his boot.

"Yes. They severely underestimated us."

Now, Kid looked pleased. "Good. I like having crew members that I can rely on." A hidden jab at Cayenne and her stomach twisted. "Let's go. Use the lumber to repair the ship and we set sail. Has the Log Pose reset?"

"Yes, Master Kid. It's pointing at three new islands."

"Good."

-x-

By the time dusk rolled around, the ship carrying the humans sailed away the isle. Odd that they weren't going to stay docked here for the night. Maurus was sure they had destroyed the tribe so they wouldn't need to worry about attacked.

One tribe full of a hundred and fifty cats, gone. Dead. In one day. It was remarkable. No one had been able to defeat a member of the tribe for eight hundred years. Maurus watched the ship get smaller and smaller from his spot on the mountain, another plateau high above the graveyard. When it finally disappeared, he turned around and entered his own domain.

It was a small cave with a pile of dry leaves and tattered blankets that made a makeshift bed in one corner but what Maurus walked to was the large Den Den Mushi sitting on the floor. Using his paw, he knocked the receiver off and hit the button that would connect him to another part of the world.

The Den Den Mushi made a beeping nose for a few seconds and then someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Elder." Maurus greeted. "It is Maurus Lin, reporting in."

"Maurus?" The voice on the other end sounded surprised. "You haven't made contact in nearly twelve years."

"This cat had no need to and was being watched by the others. But after so long, this cat doesn't need to hide anymore."

"Why? What happened?"

"The tribe is dead. Killed by humans."

"Humans? No human has been able to kill a member of the tribe in eight hundred years. How?"

"The humans were pirates who landed here after being attacked by Big Mom."

"Ahh, we knew she made a deal with them. We couldn't interfere since they would no longer take orders from us. Maurus, who were these pirates?"

"Their captain was a man named Kid."

There was silence for a full minute and Maurus wondered if he lost his signal. "Eustass "Captain" Kid." The person on the other end finally spoke. "Yes, I know of him. He's one of the Worst Generation, a pirate we knew we had to keep an eye on."

"He and his crew killed them all in a day." Maurus continued. "This cat watched part of it with its own eyes."

"I can't say this a big loss unless... Is the poneglyph there?"

Maurus closed his eyes and steeled himself. "No, Elder. This cat found no trace of a poneglpyh on the entire island. It is either lost to the sea or it was moved."

"A relief and worrisome all in one."

"This cat is truly sorry it could not find it as that was its mission for years and years."

"It is alright as long as no one finds it. Is there anything else of concern?"

"Yes." Maurus said. "There is one other thing."

"And that is?"

"The human who killed Arieh, the leader of the tribe."

"It wasn't Eustass Kid?"

"No. It was a human female."

"Female? We weren't aware that Kid had a female crew member."

"This cat saw her with its own eyes. She killed Arieh. But what this cat noted was that this female knew of the story of the Ancient Kingdom."

"What? What did you say?"

"She knew the story. The Kingdom was powerful, it went to war but fell at the hands of its enemies." The female didn't tell Maurus directly, but he deduced. Why else would she so willingly go with him when he said that he could tell her what happened to the island?

"This cat believes that she doesn't know all the details, like the name, but she has the general outline."

"Thank you Maurus. We will consider that information seriously."

"This cat is glad to serve."

"Stand by. We will contact you with your next step."

"Of course." The line went dead. Maurus picked the receiver up with his mouth and dropped it back onto the holder. All that was left was to wait.

-x-

The Elder Star* with the long hair, mustache, and beard hung the Den Den Mushi up and exhaled heavily. "Did you all hear that?"

The youngest one with the blond hair nodded heavily. "Yes."

"It's troubling, indeed." One stopped sharpening his sword and looked up. "The poneglyph from the Isle of Cats is missing and now this girl shows up."

"Maurus said she only knew the outline." The one with the hat said.

"But that is also dangerous." The last one, with the port-wine stain on his forehead, finally spoke. "If she knows the history, how long do you think it would take her to connect the pieces as she travels the New World?"

"If she managed to kill Arieh, not long." The first one said.

The one with the hat cleared his throat. "Admiral Akainu sent me an interesting report. It seems that Vice Admiral Senka is looking into this female member of the Kid Pirates. She thinks that the girl is linked to someone from the old generation."

"Senka... She is ambitious to say in the last. No doubt she has her eye on the soon to be vacant Admiral seat. Did she say which person from the old generation?" The one with the sword said.

"No. She didn't. But it is clear that the girl learned her information from this person and she pulled the Photography Branch Captain off of his assignment to research her."

"He was still looking for the girl with _that_ haki from the war?" The blond asked.

"Yes. Her."

"Two dangerous people and no one knows who they are." The one with the hat surmised.

"Both will become problems if they're allowed to roam the New World too long. What do we know about the haki user?" The older one with the birthmark asked.

"Little to none, I'm afraid. We know she's a member of Trafalgar Law's crew." The man in the hat recited. "And that's about it."

"Hm. So the only thing we can do is wait until they're identified." The thin one said.

"It seems so. The sooner we identify one, the better." The one with the sword agreed.

They had little time before either one of them would leave their mark on the world.

-x-

***Five Elder Stars is the translated English name of the Gorosei, the leaders of the World Government.**

**And that wraps up Cayenne's arc! No, Cayenne's not going to figure out the true history of the Blank Century by herself. She can't read the poneglyps. **_**But**_** she can make educated guesses. I really hope that Luffy and crew will meet Kid again. I'd love it if Cayenne met Robin.**

**Okay, we're heading back over to Luca to see how she's doing in the New World buuuut.**

**I need some help you guys. I have at least one more island idea and some general plot ideas for Cayenne and Luca but they happen way down the line. So what I'm asking is for you guys to lend me island suggestions. Y'know, island type (weather) and/or strange quirks about it (think about the diverse islands we've seen so far.) And then, you can also tack on **_**one**_** thing you'd like to see happen to/with the characters. Anything between Luca and Law, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, or Jean Bart. Or Cayenne, Kid, Heat, Wire, or Killer. I'll consider it **_**but if it doesn't fit into the romance plot I already have, I won't use it.**_** So think carefully!**

**Thanks so much guys, I really appreciate it! You can leave your ideas in a review or send me a PM! See ya in chapter 21!**


	21. L: The Warning

**Yay an update! I know a lot of you were looking forward to Luca coming back and I finally finished it after I read the current chapter. Prayer circle, guys. **_**Prayer circle.**_

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**-x-**

"If there's one thing no one likes on this sub, it's cleaning duty." Penguin complained from down the hall.

"That so?" Luca absentmindedly replied. She was only half-paying attention to Penguin's gripes as the both of them mopped a hallway.

"I mean, I know Captain's really particular about cleanliness—you should _see_ how he examines his operation room. If anyone misses _any_ spots then God help you."

"Sure." Luca dipped her mop back into the bucket and swirled it around.

"But really, Shachi and Maurice already cleaned this hallway!" Penguin finished.

"There's really not much you can do about it." Luca said as she mopped the last bit of her end. "Done." She announced and dropped her mop back into its bucket. That part was finished. Now it was the wall's turn.

"You're done?" Penguin cried and hurried over to examine her half of the hall. "How?"

"Penguin, I worked in a bar for four years. I've cleaned worse than this." Luca started to wipe the wall with a wet rag.

"Really? Like what?"

She turned to Penguin. "Vomit and piss, mostly."

"Ew."

"Yup." Those were the days. The nights of numerous pirates drinking themselves into drunk stupor. Some would make it outside to empty their stomachs into the water below but others wound up puking on the floor of the bar. One time, someone threw up on Luca's shoes (and she promptly threw them away.)

An ache formed in her chest. Since seeing Gill, Luca couldn't deny the fact that she was homesick. She missed Tez and the _Sea King_. She missed her small house, her hair dyes, but most of all she missed Cayenne.

Cayenne was her best friend and the fact that they never got to say goodbye (or even see each other) before joining their respective crews left her with a deep wound in her heart.

_I'll see her again._ Luca silently swore to herself. _I'll see her somewhere in this New World._

"Hello? Luca." Penguin poked Luca's side and she jumped slightly.

"What?"

"You spaced out." Penguin walked back to his side to continue mopping.

"Sorry." Luca muttered and continued on with cleaning.

"I don't know what you're complaining about." Luca said after a few minutes of silence. "This isn't bad."

"You haven't been asked to clean Captain's medical rooms yet." Penguin deadpanned. "It's the worst. Sometimes it's like he's breathing over your shoulder, making sure you get _everything_ sanitized. And then there's Bepo too. When we get too close to underwater volcanoes, he can't do anything because he's so hot. He sheds sweaty fur and cleaning it up is a pain!"

"Sounds gross." Luca grimaced.

"Yeah!" Penguin agreed enthusiastically. "But everyone suffers when we're in hot places."

"It's probably the suit." Luca scrubbed harder at a particularly stubborn stain on the wall. The white (orange in Bepo's case) boiler suits looked hot. Summer islands had to be torture.

"Aw, they're not bad! Rather stylish in my opinion. I'm sure you'll warm up to it once we get yours."

Luca abruptly pulled back from the wall. She turned to Penguin, her mouth hanging open. "Get my what?"

"A uniform!" Penguin said proudly. He put a hand on his hip and struck a pose as if modeling his suit for her.

_What?_ They were going to make her wear the uniform? Well it _was_ a uniform. "B-but Jean Bart doesn't wear one." Luca blurted.

"We don't have any uniform in your or Jean Bart's sizes so when we find an island with a town, Captain's going to get you guys one."

Something in Luca's chest shriveled up and died. She wouldn't be as opposed to a uniform if it wasn't a shapeless and stuffy boiler suit. "Lovely." She ground out. "Let's just get back to cleaning." She turned back to the wall and resisted the urge to hit her head on it violently.

-x-

Law calmly watched the New World Log Pose. Specifically the shaking middle needle. How close where they to Punk Hazard? But even then, after years of searching, he only knew the rough location of the secret government facility. His goal was so close but he had too much to do before he approached the island.

His first step was to raise his bounty even higher and then make his way into the ranks of the Royal Warlords in order to get a pardon. Then he'd have a full reign to start his plan.

Luca would have a part to play in it too. Since Marineford, he had slowly begun to reorganize his plan to accommodate her and her different form of haki. The detour to Perun Isle would be necessary for them so Luca could get stronger. If the World Government feared her haki, then he had good reason to make her stronger.

_Knock, knock._

"Enter." Law coolly commanded and set the Pose down on his desk.

The door opened and Bepo stuck his head in. "We're coming up on the island, Captain."

"Good." Law stood up and picked the pose up again. He tossed it at Bepo on his way out. "Get the sub ready to surface."

"Aye aye!"

-x-

"What kind of island is _that_?" Luca heard Shachi cry as she and Penguin walked onto the deck (since they were the last ones out—they had to put their cleaning supplies away.)

When Luca looked out at their next destination, she knew what Shachi meant. "Is that—_lightning_?" She asked, stunned.

Sure enough, lightning was striking down onto the mountainous island in front of them. How were they supposed to land on that?

"Um, Captain? You sure you don't wanna try somewhere else?" Penguin tried to offer.

"We're going to land there." Law said simply, smiling as always.

"No offense but how?" Luca stated dryly. "There's lightning going wild all over the place."

"We'll find a way."

Leave it to him to be unperturbed by anything.

"Maybe we should sink underwater and go in that way?" Shachi suggested.

"Or we pick another island on the log pose and head for that one?" Luca suggested quietly.

"No. We're landing on that island." Law somehow heard her.

"Uh, Captain?" Penguin called uncertainly. "There's a boat coming up on our starboard side."

They swarmed the right side of the sub and looked over into the sea. Sure enough, a tiny boat was floating their way covered by an umbrella.

"My, my, my." A voice croaked from the direction of the small boat. The umbrella moved to reveal an elderly woman standing in the middle of the boat, surrounded by closed umbrellas. "Would you like to purchase an umbrella?"

"Will it get us to the island safely?" Law asked, getting down to business.

The woman's smile widened. "Of course it will! No one can land on Raijin Island without an umbrella."

Raijin Island? Luca could've guessed; the island was surrounded by lightning.

"How much for an umbrella?"

"Five-hundred beli each."

"Two-hundred." Law bartered.

"Four-hundred!"

"Three-hundred."

"Deal." She gathered up several umbrellas and in a single leap, she landed on the deck of the sub. "Pay first."

"Shachi, go get the beli out of the treasury." Law ordered.

"So how do the umbrellas prevent us from getting hit by lightning?" Luca asked as Shachi disappeared back into the sub. Last time she checked, lightning was more likely to hit anything sticking up, like a lightning rod.

"Just use it like you would a regular umbrella. It will keep you safe." She turned to Luca and then her eyebrows furrowed.

The old woman grabbed Luca's left hand and pulled it towards her. "Would you like a palm reading while you wait?"

"A what?"

"A palm reading!" The woman said cheerfully, turning Luca's hand over in her own hand. "I used to do them when I was younger and I haven't come across many candidates. Come now, let old Kasa read your palm!"

Well, there was no harm in it, was there? She nodded briefly, all too aware of the eyes of everyone on deck watching her and Kasa.

"Oh good. I miss doing this." Kasa led Luca over to one of the lights on the sub. She held Luca's hand under the light and examined it carefully, tracing the various lines etched in her palm.

"You have a long and curvy heart line." She reported. "You freely express your emotions and feelings no matter the consequences."

That wasn't surprising. Luca always had a bad habit of blurting out what she thought of people. But maybe that was because of working in Tez's bar. She had to be and sound tough.

"But," she pulled Luca's hand closer to her eyes. "You have some smaller lines intersecting your heart line—you've experienced some emotional trauma before."

_Her mother._ Luca's heart seized for a moment, thinking back to her mom.

Kasa moved onto another line on her palm. "You have a strong head line. It's separated from your life line—she tapped a different line—"you have a strong enthusiasm for life and adventure."

How long before she met Law did she talk about leaving Sabaody for good? She talked constantly with the friendlier pirates in the bar about the Grandline and the New World and dreamed about seeing it for herself.

"Now your life line—it's curvy, deep, and long meaning plenty of energy and you will need it in the New World. Here there's a break, signifying a sudden change in lifestyle."

Being sold into slavery, press-ganged into the Heart Pirates, and unable to say good-bye to her best friend in the entire world _could_ count as sudden change.

"And now my very favorite line on the palm." Kasa said. "Your fate line." This time she took a longer time to examine the line on her palm, regarding it carefully. "Hmm." The woman frowned.

"What is it?" Luca asked.

"Your fate line is very faint." Kasa finally spoke.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not necessarily no. It means that your fate is in your own hands. You will make your own decisions—some may help you grow but some will change your life forever." Kasa regarded Luca seriously. "But there're some breaks in your fate line."

"And that means?"

"Your life is prone to change because of external forces."

Her parents separating, Luca and her mom moving to Sabaody, being captured by slavers, _Law_. None of those things happening were by her choice.

"And here," Kasa tapped Luca's palm at a singular spot. "The fate line joins with the life line which is most troubling. There will come a point when your interest must surrender to the interest of others."

Luca felt a troubling feeling deep in her gut. No doubt Kasa meant her debt to Law that Law had yet to make her uphold yet. "Okay." Luca tried to take her hand back but Kasa held on tighter.

"Listen to me, Luca."

Luca tried to hold back a gasp; she never told Kasa her name. "There will come a time when you will have to make a decision: to go back to the past or to stay with the present. You must learn which is most important to you. Because when the time comes, you will have the abandon the other for good."

"What do you mea—?"

"I got the beli!" Shachi burst out of the submarine door, holding a bag aloft.

"Excellent!" Kasa beamed and in a moment, she was by Shachi's side holding her umbrellas.

Luca chewed on her lip, thinking about Kasa's warning. What did she mean, making a decision between past and present? She wordlessly accepted an umbrella from Kasa and stood by the railing. Honestly, she didn't know what to think. She didn't even know what it was that she making the decision about.

"Was it enlightening?" Law smoothly asked as he joined her at the railing, his own umbrella in hand.

"Sort of?" Luca ventured. "I'm not sure if I believe in the palm reading-fortune telling stuff." Sabaody had been full of fake fortune tellers who had been nothing but frauds. Locals were wise to never spend a beli on them.

"I don't."Law said bluntly.

After handing out umbrellas, Kasa jumped back onto her own ship. Without speaking, Law and Luca opened their umbrellas as the sub lurched forward heading for Raijin Island.

-x-

**This is kind of a filler chapter. But I wasn't kidding guys.**_** I'm running out of ideas.**_** I've got two years to fill here until I catch up to the plotline. I'll leave a blurb on my profile so be sure to check it out. So please send me ideas!**

**My main goal is to spend as much time as I can with Cayenne because it will be Luca-centric when I catch up (Y'know, the alliance and all.) So keep that in mind when you spend me ideas. But you can give me ideas for Luca—I won't reject them.**

**It's also come to my attention that some people ****on Tumblr**** that Heart Pirate OCs should wear the boiler suit uniform. What're you're opinions on it? I just want to know who'd be in favor and who would not be. I'm curious. (To me, it doesn't matter.)**

**Reviews, favorites, and follows are love! See ya in chapter twenty-one!**


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